historical.greek.coins
TRANSCRIPT
ICO
oo
CD
TOlMn%Il&SfieKB
JfeiMft
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
HISTORICAL
GREEK COINS
DESCRIBED BY
G. F. HILL, M.A.
(OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM)
WITH THIRTEEN PLATES
LONDONARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY
LIMITED
1906
CJ339
fM
Edinburgh : T. aud A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty
PREFACE
THE title adopted for this volume is meant to
indicate that the idea of such a compilation was
inspired by the work of Canon E. L. Hicks, deal-
ing with Greek inscriptions. It was while I was
engaged with Dr. Hicks in preparing the second
edition of his book that the thought of making a
selection of coins on the same principle first sug-
gested itself. It is seldom, indeed, that a single
coin can be regarded as possessing equal value,
from a historical point of view, with an inscription
recording a public decree or treaty, or the erection
of a monument to some great man of antiquity.
Yet, in a more modest sense, of all fields of
archaeological study, that of numismatics is the
one of which we can most truly say : quacunque
ingredimur, in aliquam historian! vestigium ponimus.
Every coin that has been issued under public
authority since the invention of coinage is a his-
torical document. Apart from monumental sculp-
ture, inscriptions, and coins, the remains of
antiquity are chiefly of interest as bearing on
domestic life, on trade, on art, and religion ;it is
only exceptionally that they take rank (no matter
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
whether we call it higher or lower rank) as state
documents. Fortunately for the student of Greek
art, in Greece the fact that a work was produced
under the auspices of the state does not imply
that it was, as a rule, below the average level of
achievement of the time. The Greek coin, then,
enjoys the advantage of being at once the best
thing of the kind that Greek art could make,
and an official document withal. What is more,
the Greek die-engraver was at many mints allowed
to give free play to his fancy ; so that these official
documents throw many an instructive sidelight on
the life of their time.
The principles according to which the pieces
discussed in this volume have been selected as
'
historical'
will, I hope, be fairly clear. Above
all, they are pieces which, either by the mere
fact that they were issued, or else by information
conveyed through their fabric, types, inscriptions
or standard, actually add their quantum to our
knowledge of the period to which they belong.
Sometimes, as in the case of the coins struck after
the battle of Cnidus, the amount added is con-
siderable. Sometimes, however, as with the early
didrachm of the Achaean League, the coins cannot
be said to do more than throw a pleasantly illustra-
tive light on the period. Yet even such illustration
should make our ideas of antiquity more vivid.
The monetary series, which in this subsidiary mannervi
PREFACE
mark the course of the rise and decay of states,
are so numerous, so complete, that an acquaintance
with them becomes almost as essential to the
historical student as is the use of a geographical
atlas. But the difficulties in the way of acquiring
such an acquaintance are manifold we cannot,
perhaps fortunately, all be specialists. Neverthe-
less, by the exhibition of a few instances of the
commentary which numismatics can furnish to
literary history, it is possible to show that there
is a whole mine of information lying ready to be
worked, and that no historical problem should be
attacked without asking :
' How will the coins
help us ?'
The selection here employed for this purposedoubtless differs considerably from that which
would be made by another writer if the task
were set him, or even by myself, if I began
my task again. Athens, for instance, is poorly
represented ; but, as is stated in the text, wehave singularly little certain knowledge of the
historical relations of its coinage. The coins of
Corinth, again, hardly lend themselves to treat-
ment in connexion with history, in spite of the
fact that they formed one of the most importantcurrencies in the ancient world. Even merelywith a view to illustrating the economic pheno-menon of the money of a single state obtaining
an international character, other states providevii
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
better material than does Corinth. There are
many other mints which might have been and
are not represented here; but it is hardly neces-
sary to insist that one cannot find room for
everything.
Towards the end of the period under review,
the centre of interest gradually shifts to Rome.
The history illustrated by the Greek coins from
the beginning of the first century B.C. becomes
increasingly provincial and petty. The true con-
tinuation of the historical line in numismatics is
to be found in the Roman coinage. If the present
volume meets with sufficient encouragement, it
may be followed by a companion dealing with
Historical Roman Coins.
It is often said that controversy should be
eliminated from a work which is not meant for
advanced students. This book, however, is not
intended for readers altogether untrained in the
study of history, so that it has not seemed neces-
sary entirely to exclude the discussion of certain
doubtful points. No little harm is done by giving
the impression that the course of study runs
smooth, whereas it is beset by obstacles through-out. It is better that the beginner should realise
the uncertainties of his path, provided these are
not allowed to obscure its general direction.
The descriptions have been made as simple as
possible. A few unavoidable technical terms are
viii
PREFACE
very summarily explained in the Glossary. The
bibliographical references have been purposely re-
stricted. Some books, such as Mr. Head's Historia
Numorum and Professor Gardner's Types of Greek
Coins, ought to have been cited in nearly everysection. To save space I would make a general
acknowledgment to them here. I much regret
that it has not been possible to postpone publica-
tion until the second edition of Mr. Head's manual
is available. Mr. George Macdonald's work on
Coin Types would have been more frequently
quoted had its publication been less recent. This
volume was complete in manuscript before I had
the privilege of seeing his proofs, so that it has
only been possible to make occasional modifications
in accordance with the new light which he has
thrown on the subject. To his kindness and care
in reading my own proofs are due improvements
great and small on nearly every page.
It remains for me to express my thanks to the
authorities of the coin cabinets at Berlin and Paris
for their kindness in answering my inquiries and
in providing casts of coins which were necessary in
the preparation of the book.
G. F. HILL.
March, 1906.
IX
GLOSSARY
OF SOME TECHNICAL TEEMS USED IN THE TEXT
Aeginetic Standard : the standard based on a unit (stater or didracbm)of about 12'60 grammes. See No. 2.
Attic Standard : see Euboic-Attic.
Babylonic, Persian or Lydian Standard: the standard based on a
unit (shekel or stater) of from 11 '50 to 10'91 grammes. See No. 7.
Blank : see Flan.
Campanian Standard : a standard derived from the Phoenician, the
didrachm weighing 7'76 grammes (later reduced to 6'82 grammes).
Canting Type or Symbol : a type or symbol which indicates, bymeans of a pun, the person or state to which it refers as the seal
(<o>KJ7) of Phocaea, or the Pythian tripod of the magistrate Pythonat Abdera.
Cast Coins : see Struck.
Coin : a piece of metal (or, exceptionally, some other convenient
material) artificially shaped and marked with a sign or type as a
guarantee of its quality and weight, and issued by some responsible
authority, to serve primarily as a medium of exchange, in terms of
which the value of exchangeable commodities can be expressed. Dis-
tinguished from a token by having or being supposed to have an
intrinsic value more or less nearly approaching the value imposed
upon it by the issuing authority.
Corinthian Standard : a standard based on the same unit as the
Euboic-Attic (8'72 grammes). The stater, however, was divided
into three drachms instead of into two as in the latter system.
Countermark : a small mark impressed on a coin, usually by some
person other than the issuing authority, and intended to give the
coin fresh currency.
Die : the instrument containing the design which, by being impressed,
produces the type on a coin. The coin in striking was placedbetween the upper and lower dies. The lower die in ancient times
X
GLOSSARY
was usually let into an anvil, its fellow inserted in the lower end of
a bar of metal, the other end of which could be struck with the
hammer.
Drachm : a division of the stater (q.v.}> usually one-half, but in some
systems, as the Corinthian, one-third. Usually derived (after
Plutarch Lysand. 17) from dparrfo-tfcu, as representing a 'handful'
of obols. This is probably a popular etymology, and drachm maybe the same word as the Phoenician darkemon.
Electrum (rj\fKTpov, Xet>*os xpvo-d?) : any alloy, whether natural or
artificial, of gold or silver, in which there is more than twenty per
cent, of silver.
Euboic-Attic Standard: the standard based on a unit (stater) of
8'72 grammes. See Nos. 5, 6.
Exergue : that segment of the field of a coin which, lying below the
type, is separated from the rest of the field either by the lower out-
line of the type itself, or by a line drawn expressly for the purpose.
Fabric : the external shape and appearance given to coins by the
mechanism employed to cast or strike them;
distinct therefore
from style, which is conditioned by the artistic qualities of the
designer.
Field : that portion of the surface of a coin (within the border, if any)
which is not occupied by the type.
Flan or blank : the shaped piece of metal which is made into a coin by
having the necessary types impressed on it.
Incuse fabric : the form of coin in which the type on one side is in
intaglio instead of in relief. See No. 8.
Incuse impression : the sunk impression made on the flan by the
upper die ; according to the shape of this upper die, the impression
is square, oblong, circular, triangular, etc. in outline.
Italic Standard : a standard reduced from the Corinthian, the stater
weighing about 8 '16 grammes and being, like the Corinthian stater,
divided into 3 drachms.
Litra : the Sicilian pound of copper or bronze ;or the silver coin of
0'87 grammes which was originally the equivalent of the pound of
copper ;or the bronze token nominally representing the pound of
copper. See No. 49.
Lydian Standard : see Babylonic.
Mina (/ii>5, manah} : the weight of fifty shekels or staters. This money-mina is to be distinguished from the weight-mina (used for com-
modities) of sixty shekels.
xi
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Obol : a division, almost without exception one-sixth, of the drachm.
Originally ooAof or 6ft(\i<rKos must have been a small bar of metal,
which was one of the forms taken by primitive currency.
Obverse : the side of a coin impressed by the lower die, which was let
into an anvil. Since, when one of the two types of a coin was a
human head, it was usually produced by the lower die, it has
become usual to regard the side with the head, by whichever die it
was produced, as the obverse. But on many early coins, e.g. on the
Damareteion (No. 20) the head was produced by the upper die, and
is, technically regarded, on the reverse of the coin.
Persian or Persic Standard : see Babylonic.
Pheidonian Standard : practically equivalent to the Aeginetic.
Named after Pheidon, King of Argos, who introduced or system-atised it.
Phocaic Standard : the standard based on a unit (stater) of about
16'50 grammes. See No. 3.
Phoenician Standard : the standard based on a unit (shekel or
stater) of from 7 '67 to 7 '27 grammes. See No. 7.
Reverse : the side of a coin impressed by the upper die : see Die. Thereverse in most early coins received an incuse impression by which
it is recognisable. See Incuse
Rhodian Standard : a standard based on a unit (didrachm) of 7'77
to 7 '45 grammes. See No. 31.
Shekel: the name for the unit of weight in the Oriental coin-standards.
Op. Stater.
Standard: a system of weights according to which the various
denominations of a coinage are fixed.
Stater : the standard or unit-coin in any system ;e g. the Attic silver
stater was a tetradrachm of 17*44 grammes, the Attic gold stater
a didrachm of 872 grammes, the Corinthian silver stater a tridrachm
of 8'72 grammes. Op. Shekel.
Struck Coins : coins on which the designs are produced by dies
impressed on the previously fashioned blank by blows with a
hammer ; opposed to cast coins, which are produced by the single
process of pouring molten metal into a mould.
Symbol : a subsidiary type, being either (1) an attribute of the chief
type, as the eagle of Zeus, or (2) and this is the strict numismatic
use of the term independent of the chief type, and serving to
identify a person (as the authority responsible for the issue of the
xii
GLOSSARY
coin) or a mint (where the chief types, as, e.g. in the case of coins
of Alexander the Great, indicate not the place of issue but the
ruler).
Talent (raXavrov) : the highest weight in all ancient systems, equivalentto 60 minae or 3000 (money) staters.
"
Type: the design on a coin. In the narrower sense, the essential
portion of the design (as distinct from adjunct, inscription, border,
etc.), which is the distinguishing mark of the issuing authority and
guarantee of the good quality of the coin. Effigies est nummi
qualitas extrinseca, et signum testimonii publici (Jac. Lampadius,de Natura Nummi).
Xlll
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED
IN THE TEXT
B. C. H. = Bulletin de Gorrespondance Hellenique. (Athens and Paris.)
B. M. C. = British Museum Catalogue. The word following in italics,
as Ionia, denotes the volume.
C. A. = Guide to the Principal Gold and Silver Coins of the Ancients,
by B. V. Head. 4th ed., London, 1895.
C. I. G. = Corpus Inscriptiomim Graecarum, ed. by Boeckh, etc.
Berlin, 1828-77.
If. N. l = Historia Numorum, by B. V. Head. 1st ed., Oxford, 1887.
/. G. = Inscriptions Graecae. (Berlin, 1873 ff.)
J. H. S. = Journal of Hellenic Studies. (London.)
I. =left. Used not in the heraldic sense, but from the spectator's pointof view.
Num. Chr. = Numismatic Chronicle. (London.)
Num. Zt. = Numismatische Zeitschrift. (Vienna.)
r = right. Used not in the heraldic sense, but from the spectator's pointof view.
Rev. Num. = Revue Numismatique. (Paris.)
Syr. = Coinage of Syracuse, by B. V. Head. (Num. Chr. 1874.)
7 i f 'TV \= Zeitschrift fiir Numismatik. (Berlin.)
XIV
CONTENTSPAGE
PREFACE, . ..... v
GLOSSARY, . . ..... x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS,...... xiv
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS :
1. The Beginnings of Coinage in Asia Minor : seventh century
B.C., . . . . . . .12. The Beginnings of Silver Coinage in Greece : seventh century
B.C., ....... 3
3. The Thalassocracy of Phocaea : circa 602-560 B.C., . . 8
4-6. Solon and the Early Attic Coinage : circa 594-560 B.C., . 11
7. Croesus, King of Lydia : 555-541 B.C., . . .188-10. Zancle and Rhegiuin, at the end of the sixth century, . 21
11. Dareius i. : 521-486 B.C., ..... 26
12-17. Rhegium and Zancle-Messana in the time of Anaxilas :
494-476 B.C., ...... 29
18, 19. Acragas and Himera under Theron : 488-472 B.C. . 35
20. The Damareteia : 480-479 B.C., . . . .3721, 22. Hieron's Foundation of Aetna : 476 before 461 B.C., . 43
23. Themistocles in Magnesia : after 463 B.C., . . .4524-26. New Sybaris and Thurii : 453/452-443 B.C., . . 49
27, 28. Argos and the Eleans in 420 B.C., . . .5229. The Athenian Disaster in Sicily : 413 B.C., . . .5430. Pharnabazus at Cyzicus : circa 410 B.C., . . .57
XV
HISTORICAL GREEK COINSPAOE
31. The Foundation of Rhodes : 408 B.C., , . 60
32, 33. Anti-Spartan League after the Battle of Cnidus : 394-389
B.C., ....... 62
34. The Olynthian League : ctrar392-379 B.C., ... 66
35. Demonicus, King of Citium : 388-387 B.C., . .6736. Epaminondas : circa 379-362 B.C., \ .6937. The New Arcadian League : 370 B.C., . 72
38. The Achaean League : circa 367-362 B.C., ... 73
39. 40. The Arcadians occupy Olympia : 365-364 B.C., . 76
41, 42. Philip's Foundation at Crenides : 357 B.C., . 78
43, 44. Philip of Macedon : 359-336 B.C., ... 80
45. Dion of Syracuse in Zacynthus : 357 B.C., . . .8446-49. Dion and Timoleon in Sicily : 357-337 B.C., . . 85
50-52. The Sacred War : 356-346 B.C., .... 89
53. Philip ii. and Thessaly : 353-343 B.C., ... 93
54-56. Mazaeus, Governor of Northern Syria and Cilicia : 350-
333 B.C., ....... 97
57. Tarentum in the Fourth Century : 350-330 B.C., . . 101
58-60. Alexander the Great : 336-323 B.C., . . . 103
61-63. Ptolemy i. : 323-284 B.C., . . . . .10664-67. Agathocles, Tyrant of Syracuse : 317-289 B.C., . . 110
68. The Beginnings of the Aetolian League : 314-279 B.C., . 115
69. Demetrius Poliorcetes defeats Ptolemy : 306 B.C., . .11770. The Foundation of the Seleucid Kingdom : 306 B.C., . 118
71. Lysimachus, King of Thrace : 306-281 B.C., . . .121
72. 73. The Foundation of the Pergamene Kingdom : 281 B.C., . 124
74, 75. Locri in the Pyrrhic War : 280-275 B.C., . . .12676. Antigonus Gonatas defeats the Egyptian Fleet : circa 253 B.C., 129
77. The Foundation of the Parthian Empire : circa 248 B.C., . 131
78. 79. Philip v. and the Cretans : 220 B.C., . .132xvi
CONTENTSPACE
80. Athens 'and Crete in the League against Philip v. : 200 B.C., 134
81. Flamininus in Greece : 198-190 B.C.,.... 136
82. 83. Eumenes n. and Stratoniceia : circa 186 B.C., . . 137
84. Antiochus Epiphanes at Athens : 175 B.C., . . .14085. The Foundations of Antiochus Epiphanes : 175-164 B.C., . 143
86. Orophernes and Priene : 159-156 B.C., . . . 145
87-89. The Revolt of Andriscus : 150-149 B.C., . . .14890. Antiochus vu. and the Jews : 139-134 B.C., . . . 151
91. Alexander Zabinas 129/8-123/2 B.C., .... 156
92. 93. Provincia Macedonia : 93-88 B.C., . . . 158
94, 95. Athens in the Mithradatic War : 87-86 B.C., . .16096. The End of the Seleucid Kingdom: 83 B.C., . . .16397. The Conquest of Crete : 69-63 B.C., . . . .16598. Pompeius organises Southern Asia Minor : 66 B.C., . .16799. 100. Amyntas, King of Galatia : 36-25 B.C., . . .168
INDEX, ........ 171
XVll
LIST OF PLATESAT PAGE
PLATE I. Nos. 1-11, 26
II. 12-19, 34
III. 20-28, 52
IV. 29-35, 66
V. 36-44, . . . 80
VI. 45-53, 92
VII. 54-60, ........ 104
VIII. 61-67, 110
IX. 68-73, 124
X. 74-79, 132
XI. 80-86, 146
XII. 87-93, 158
XIII. 94-100 168
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXTPAGE
FIG. 1. Silver Drachm of Rhegium, 21
2. Bronze coin of Magnesia, with figure of Themistocles, . 47
3. Silver Alliance coin of Sybaris and Poseidonia, . . 51
4. Electrum Stater of Cyzicus, 58
5. Bronze coin of Onymarchus, 89
6. Bronze coin of Phalaecus, 89
7. Bronze coin of Antiochia on the Sarus, . . . .143
XIX
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
THE BEGINNINGS OF COINAGE IN ASIA MINOR
SEVENTH CENTURY B.C.
1. Obv. Striated surface.
Rev. Three incuse impressions ; the middle one,
ohlong, apparently contains a fox run-
ning ; the others, square, have indistinct
types (perhaps only rough marks made
by punches).
British Museum. Electrum Stater, 10'81 grammes. Head, C. A.,PL 1, 1 ; B. M. C. Ionia, p. 183, No. 1, PL iii. 3.
As early as the sixth century B.C. it was believed
that the Lydians were the inventors of coinage.1
Herodotus 2later put on record his belief that the
Lydians first struck money of gold and silver. Hehas probably fallen into a confusion ; it is fairly
certain that the first coins made in Asia Minor of
pure gold and silver belong to the time of Croesus
(see below, No. 7). But there exist much more
primitive pieces of money, made not of pure goldor silver, but of electrum, a natural mixture of the
two metals which used to be found in quantities
1 Jul. Pollux, ix. 83, quoting Xenophanes.8
i. 94.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
in the Tmolus district. Further, there exist silver
coins, such as those struck in Aegina (No. 2), which
have all the appearance of being more ancient than
the earliest silver coins ofAsia Minor. It would seem
then that the first coins were made either in Lydiaor in its dependencies of electrum, but that the
fame of the wealth of Croesus and of the K/aotcmot
orarrj/)es threw the earlier electrum into oblivion.
It is not improbable that these first electrum coins
may go back to the time of Gyges, under whomthe new Lydian empire was established.
What, if any, coins among those now extant are
to be assigned to the earliest Lydian issues it is
hardly possible to say. The coin No. 1, which
was very likely issued at one of the Ionian coast
towns, such as Miletus, is merely given as a speci-
men of a very primitive kind of currency. Type on
the obverse it has none ; the striations are onlydue to the grooving of the lower die in order to
enable it to bite the metal. But on the reverse
there is an arrangement which seems to point to the
existence even at this early period of a compara-
tively complex system of control. We have no
less than three 'incuses' (whereas in later times
one was made to serve), and in one at least of these
there is a type. Other early coins of the same
district show distinct types in each of the incuses, as
well as one on the obverse. It has been suggested1
that these incuses contain the signatures of indi-
vidual bankers, the coins being really private, and
not state issues. But the regularity with which
1Babelon, Les Originea de la Monruiie, p. 110 f.
2
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
they are disposed shows that they must have been
impressed at one and the same time ; so that in all
probability what they contain is the signatures of
the officials responsible for the coinage.The weight of the stater is that generally known
as the Babylonic, Persian, or Lydian. It was
normally used in later times for the silver coinage ;
but we shall see that it was also employed for pure
gold in the coins attributed to Croesus (see No. 7,
where the standards are explained).
THE BEGINNINGS OF SILVER COINAGE IN GREECE
SEVENTH CENTURY B.C.
2. Obv. Sea-tortoise, represented with smooth cara-
pace decorated with a row of pellets
down the middle.
Rev. Incuse square irregularly divided by dia-
meters and diagonals into eight com-
partments.
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Stater, 12 '44 grammes. Head,B. M. C. Attica, etc., p. 126, No. 1 ; <7. A., PL 6, 29.
It is generally admitted by numismatists that the
earliest Aeginetan coins are also the earliest silver
coins struck in Greece. They are the first of a longseries on which the type remains substantially the
same down to the fourth century B.C., althoughmodifications are introduced in the representationof the tortoise, which seems to have begun as the
sea-tortoise and ended as the marsh -tortoise I
1
1 Imhoof-Blumer u. Keller, Tier- u. Pflanzenbilder auf Miinzen u.
Gemmen, p. 40, PI. vi. 24-26 ; Ridgeway, Origin ofMetallic Currency, p. 333.
>
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
The letters Al, which fix the attribution of the
coins to Aegina, do not appear until the fifth
century.It is not possible to attach anything like an exact
date to any group in the series of Aeginetan coins
until we reach the period of the restoration of
Aegina by Lysander after the fall of Athens.
Stretching back from the group which can be as-
signed to this period is a very long series showingthe slow development by gradual modification of
the type of the tortoise and of the incuse impressionon the reverse. This development must have
occupied a long time, and we are therefore justified
in assigning the oldest, extremely archaic, pieces
to the seventh century B.C., and to a fairly early
period in that century. That the Greeks them-
selves realised the great antiquity of the Aeginetancoins is clear. Writers from Ephorus downwards
attributed the establishment of the mint at Aeginato Pheidon, king of Argos.
1 Since then, the two
questions of the date of the first Aeginetan coinageand the date of Pheidon have been inextricably,
though unnecessarily, involved with each other.
Unnecessarily, for there is absolutely no trust-
worthy evidence that Pheidon had anything to
do with the introduction of coinage. Herodotus 2
simply says that Pheidon gave a system of
measures (including, presumably, weights) to the
Peloponnesians. It is obvious that the origina-
tion of a system of weights and measures does not
necessarily carry with it the establishment of a
*Strabo, viii. p. 376.
2 vi. 127.
4
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
currency. Yet it is probable that on this state-
ment of Herodotus, coupled with the fact of the
archaic character of the Aeginetan coinage, Ephorusfounded the theory that Pheidon first coined silver
in Aegina.The xeX<Si>cu of Aegina must have been struck in
enormous quantities, for ordinary specimens are byno means rare. From a very early period the
Aeginetans commanded the commerce of Pelopon-nesus and the Aegean islands. The spread of the
Aeginetic standard shows that their trade workedits way far eastwards, even to the coast of Cilicia
and Cyprus, and westwards to the earliest Sicilian
colonies. The standard is also found in northern
Greece, from Thessaly southwards as far as the
district in which the system known as the Euboic-
Attic, with its modification, the Corinthian, pre-vails ; but we cannot tell whether its occurrence
there was primarily due to Aeginetan trade. It
seems more probable that it was the weight-standardin use all over the Greek mainland as far north
as Thessaly from very early times. When the
Aeginetan mint was started, it would naturallynot create a new standard, but rather adopt one
which was likely to favour the widest possible
currency for its coins. This explanation, however,does not apply to its appearance in eastern and
western Greece ; for there the occurrence of the
standard is sporadic, and less likely to be due to a
survival of an early widespread standard than to
importation by Aeginetan trade.
The type of the tortoise at Aegina has not
5
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
received any very satisfactory explanation. There
seems to have been some connexion between the
tortoise and Aphrodite, who is not uncommonlyrepresented standing with one foot on this reptile.
1
It has been suggested that the mint was set up in
the temple of Aphrodite mentioned by Pausanias.2
At a later period than the seventh century the
Aeginetans might have been expected to place on
their coins the attribute of their chief deity, whohowever was not Aphrodite. But it is wisest to
admit that we do not know for what reason8 the
tortoise was adopted as the type of Aegina; we
only know, in accordance with the principle
governing the adoption of types in early times,
that it must have been the distinctive badge or
arms of the state.4
The very peculiar incuse square which occurs
on all but the earliest coins of Aegina a squaredivided by bands into five unequal compartmentsis characteristic of the series. It is also found,
however, on coins struck at Orchomenus, in Boeotia,
in the late sixth and in the fifth centuries B.C. There
can be no doubt that the people of Orchomenus
1 See Frazer's Pausanias, vol. iv. p. 105.2
ii. 29. 6.
3Ridgeway (op. cil.,p. 331) suggests, in pursuance of his theory of
the commercial origin of many coin-types, that the old monetary unit of
Aegina was the shell of the sea-tortoise. We may admit the possibility
that Aegina may have had a large trade in tortoise-shells, and that the
reptile may therefore have been adopted as the arms of the state, and
then as the type of the coins. But if the intention had been to representon the coin the monetary unit which the coin replaced, we should find as
type the representation, not of a living tortoise, but of its shell.
4 See G. Macdonald's Coin Types, especially pp. 43 ff., where the
dominance of this principle in early times is clearly brought out.
6
HISTOKICAL GREEK COINS
adopted it from Aegina. By doing so, they gaveto their coins a strong resemblance to the Aeginetan ;
for the obverse type is a corn-grain, which at
first sight recalls the early Aeginetan tortoise,
especially as it appears when the pellets have been
worn away by circulation. Imitation of well-known
coins for commercial reasons is natural enough, and
not uncommon at any time ; thus the people of Solus
in Sicily imitated the coins of Selinus, and the
Counts of Flanders the well-known English sterlings.
There may, however, have been a political reason
at the back of this resemblance. In the days of
the Calaurian Amphictiony, Orchomenus must have
been brought into close connexion with Aegina.We do not certainly know when those days were.
But it would seem that either the actuality or the
memory of this association must have existed in the
seventh century B.C., and prompted the Orcho-
menians to adopt a coinage modelled on that of
the Aeginetans. An attempt has indeed been
made 1 to explain away the curious fact of the
presence in the Calaurian Amphictiony of the
solitary Boeotian city of Orchomenus, by supposingthat Strabo or a copyist has added 17
Mu'vctos to
the name, whereas really the Arcadian Orchomenus
was the member. But the fact that in later times
a connexion between Aegina and the Boeotian city
is proved by the coinage is alone sufficient to
dispose of such a conjecture.
1 E. Curtius, in Hermes, x. 388.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
THE THALASSOCRACY OF PHOCAEA
circa 602-560 B.C.
3. Obv. Seal r; below,
Rev. Two shallow incuse squares of unequalsizes.
British Museum. Electrum Stater, 16 '52 grammes. W. Wroth,Num. Chr., 1894, p. 14, PI. i. 14 ; cp. B. V. Head, Num. Chr., 1875,
p. 281 ff.
The type of this extraordinarily rare stater, of
which but two specimenslare at present known, is
the <f>uiaj or seal, which was always the chief badgeof the great Ionic trading city. It is a goodinstance of a punning or canting type ;
for we have
no reason to suppose that Phocaea was in any waya 'city of seals.' Its name may be explained in
the light of the tradition that it was founded bytwo Athenians leading a party of Phocians. 2
During the earliest period of the Phocaean coinage,
i.e. down to the Persian conquest in 541 B.C., both
electrum and silver coins were issued ; but the
pieces in the former metal are generally assignedto the period of the thalassocracy, which has been
fixed with some probability at about 602-560 B.C.3
The standard on which these coins are struck, and
which takes from them the name Phocaic, was
adopted by a few other cities, chiefly in the north-
west of Asia Minor, such as Cyzicus. The type of
1 The other is at Munich.3 Paus.
,vii. 2. 4 ; 3. 10 ; Strabo, xiv. 633, speaks only of Athenians ;
Busolt, Or. Gesch., ij. p. 316.
3 W. W. Goodwin, de potentiae vet. gentium maritimae epochis apudEuseb., Gottingen Diss., 1855, p. 56 f.
8
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
one electrum coin, a centaur carrying off a woman,
suggests a Thracian or Thasian origin ;
* and even
though the fabric of the coin is rather Asiatic, this
seems to show the course of Phocaean trade, for
though the coin may have been struck in Asia
Minor, the people who made and used it appear to
have been familiar with coins of Thasos and the
mainland over against it. On the other hand, the
extension of the standard southwards seems to
have been blocked by the rivalry of the other
great trading cities of the Ionian coast.
The metal of which the early Phocaic coins are
made is a fairly high quality of electrum; the
percentage of gold contained in it is about 51 per
cent., since the specific gravity, taken by approxi-mate methods, is 137. 2
From the epigraphic point of view, the form Oused for the initial of the city name is of someinterest. The same form is found also on an earlycoin of Phaselis,
3 a Dorian colony on the coast of
Lycia. Outside of these two cities we have noinstance of the use of for 4>. It is possible that
it is actually meant for a theta. If so, it follows,
not necessarily that the names of Phocaea andPhaselis began with any other sound than the
labial aspirate, but merely that, at the time, the
letter in the alphabet most nearly representing that
aspirate was theta. Phi, as is well known, was not
1 B. V. Head, B. M. C. Ionia, p. 9, No. 42; Babelon, M&. deNum.,iii. p. 87.
3Cp. B. V. Head, Num. Chron., 1887, p. 301.
3 B. M. C. Lycia, PI. xvi. 5, a coin dating probably from the end of thesixth century B.C.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
represented by a single sign until comparativelylate.
1
The two incuse impressions on the reverses of
the two extant specimens of this coin, althoughformed by the same two dies, are not in the same
position relatively to each other. This proves that
the two small dies by means of which they were pro-duced were not immovably joined together. Never-
theless, these two dies must have been used at the
same time, and in the same mint. For, if we sup-
pose that the two reverse impressions were made
independently at different times, and by personsin different places, we meet with a double difficulty.
First, why is it that the person who made the
first impression always carefully left space for a
second, instead of driving his die into the middle
of the blank? Second, if we suppose that the
blank, having received its obverse type and one
reverse impression, then passed out of the mint, the
subsequent striking of the second reverse impressionwould inevitably produce a corresponding flattening
on the obverse side. It follows that both reverse
impressions must have been made at the same
time, while the blank was in position on the anvil
with the die of the obverse below it. This mayseem to be a matter of purely technical importance,but it bears on the question of the private origin
1 The question is discussed by Babelon, Rev. Num., 1903, pp. 414 f.
He decides in favour of its being a theta, and supposes that the initial
sound of the name was intermediate between and<f>. (If I understand
him rightly, he supposes these signs to have represented fricatives ; but
in classical times they represented true aspirates.) He points out that
the occurrence of the form on these coins is of interest in connexion with
F. Lenormant's theory that the sign <f>was derived from the sign for theta.
10
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
of coinage which has been briefly discussed above.1
There we saw that the regularity of the arrange-
ment of the triple' incuse
'
pointed to its havingbeen impressed all at the same time ; here, where
there is a certain irregularity, we see that the
same simultaneity of origin is nevertheless certain.
The two or three small reverse dies may in each
case have been held together for the time by the
pincers, although not permanently fixed.
SOLON AND THE EARLY ATTIC COINAGE
circa 594-560 B.C.
4. Obv. Owl standing L, head facing.
Rev. Incuse square containing triangle.
British Museum. Electrum, 1 '36 grammes. Head, B. M. C. Attica,
p. 1, No. 1.
5. Obv. Similar type to preceding, within raised
border.
Rev. Rough incuse square divided by diagonalsinto four triangles.
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Silver, 8 '42 grammes. Babelon,
Journ. Internat., 1904, p. 235.
6. Obv. Head of Athena r., wearing crested helmet.
Rev. Owl standing to front;in field to 1. olive-
spray, to r. [A]OEBritish Museum. Silver, 17*16 grammes. Head, B. M. C. Attica, p. 1,
No. 4; C. A., PL 6, 27.
It is a curious and somewhat disheartening fact
that, in spite of the comparatively large amount1 See p. 2.
II
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
of literary evidence available, the early history of
the Attic coinage presents more uncertainties than
are to be found in almost any other series. Can it
be that if we possessed an equal bulk of literary
references to other early coinages, such as the
Aeginetan and Corinthian, we should find it no
less difficult to fit the extant coins into their
historical background ?
In the present case, to put the matter baldly,
we are asked to decide two or three questions.Did a mint exist at Athens before Solon's time,
and, if so, what coins were issued from it ? If
Solon started the Athenian mint, did he issue
the coins which are so familiar as the Athenian
y\ai)K9 (No. 6), or something else ? If he did not
introduce the yXav/ces, who did ?l
The arguments in favour of the existence of a
mint at Athens before Solon's time may be sum-
marised as follows. In the first place, it seems
highly improbable that while all the great cities
in the neighbourhood Aegina, Corinth, Chalcis,
Eretria, to mention only the more important had
their own coinages, Athens should have been con-
tent to use the money of its neighbours and rivals.
Secondly, had Solon actually started the mint for
the first time, so remarkable an innovation would1 It would be beyond the scope of this book to discuss this complicated
subject in detail. I can hardly do more than give a bare outline of the
question. Since the appearance of M. Babelon's suggestive essay in the
Journ. Internat. for 1904, I have gone into the evidence once more, andarrived at the conclusions stated here. They are in substantial accord-
ance with the interpretation of the Aristotelian evidence proposed in
Num. Chron., 1897, which I see no reason to discard, and also with the
classification of the coins proposed by Dr. von Fritze in Ze.it. f. Num. , xx.
12
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
hardly have been omitted in the record of his
achievements. A writer dealing with history from
the economic and constitutional point of view
alone, like Aristotle in his 'A&ypaww noXtreia, could
hardly have passed it over in silence ; it is still
less likely to have escaped the Atthidographers.
Again, when Solon's policy in relation to the coinageis mentioned it is implied that he altered in some
way what existed before him. Finally, as there is
usually some basis for the most foolish tradition,
we may justifiably assume that the various legends
attributing the invention of the coinage to Erich-
thonius and Lycus, or to Theseus, mean that the
invention went back to some very early time, at
least pre-Solonian.First let us consider the most important piece of
the literary evidence.1 From the famous tenth
chapter of Aristotle's 'Afrqvaiaw HoXtreia we knowthat the pre-Solonian mina in use at Athens
weighed 70 drachms, and that Solon raised the
weight of the mina so as to be equivalent to
100 drachms. Now the pre-Solonian mina in
use at Athens must have been the Pheidonian-
Aeginetic ; that is generally admitted, and is indeed
implied in Aristotle's context. What happenedwas that the weight of the mina was increased
until its drachm (or ^^ part) was equivalent to
T^J of the Pheidonian mina previously in use. NowTJ^ of the Pheidonian mina (^x 611*24 grammes)is 873 grammes. Therefore 873 grammes was
1 Androtion's evidence has had to be corrected in the light of the
passage of Aristotle. See Num. Chr., 1897, p. 292.
J
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the weight of Solon's drachm, and 873 grammesthe weight of his new mina.
In what then did Solon's av^trtg TOV yo/ucr/iaTos,
as it is described by Aristotle, consist ? Thedrachm which he introduced was obviously heavier
than the drachm of the Pheidonian system (6*11
grammes). It was also heavier than (in fact,
twice the weight of) the later Attic drachm (4*36
grammes). Thus, whether the drachm in circula-
tion in Athens before Solon's time was a Pheidonian
of 6*11 grammes, or a light Attic of 4'36 grammes,the introduction of a drachm of 873 grammes was
obviously an av^crts TOV vo/uoyiaros. But if we
accept the latter of the two alternatives (the
light Attic), we ought to be able to explain whyAristotle went out of his way to express the nature
of the av)7o-i9 in terms of the Pheidonian standard.
Instead of the painfully roundabout method em-
ployed, he could have said quite simply that the
Solonian drachm was made double the weight of
the older drachm. One is driven to the conclusion,
therefore, that the standard in use for coins at
Athens before Solon was the Pheidonian-Aeginetic.It is indeed difficult to see how, if Athens used the
Pheidonian mina, as is admitted by the chief repre-
sentative of those who believe in a pre-Solonian'Attic' coinage, she could have used smaller
weights belonging to another standard. 1
Unless, then, we are prepared to reject the
1 The Delphic mina of 70 drachms is merely a name for the Attic mina
expressed in terms of Aeginetic drachms. See Th. Reinach, iHistoirt
par les Monnaies, pp. 99 ff.
14
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
authority of Aristotle, the standard in use for coins
at Athens before Solon was the Aeginetic, and anycoins attributed to the Athenian mint before Solon
must conform to that standard. Here we are met
by the fact that there are absolutely no extant
coins of the Aeginetic standard which can with anysort of probability be connected with Athens !
We are loth to reject the literary evidence; so
let us examine once more the general argumentswhich we stated at the outset. Many a parallel
can be found to the absence of a coinage in a greatcommercial city in early times. None of the
Phoenician trading cities issued coins before the
second half of the fifth century. Egypt was with-
out a coinage until late in the fourth century.
And, owing to the importance of Attic literature,
we are liable to have an exaggerated opinion of the
greatness of Athens before the time of Peisistratus.
Further, our ancient authorities on the history of
coinage are so fragmentary and unsystematic that
the absence of any record of the invention of
coinage by Solon must not be regarded as astonish-
ing. The collectors of the traditions relating to
early Attic history were only too likely to foster
theories which took back the invention of the
Attic coinage to immemorial antiquity, thus cast-
ing additional glory on their theme. Those whomention Solon's reform do so, it is true, in language
implying the previous existence of a coinage ; but
they do not necessarily imply that that coinagewas Athenian.
In order to assign a pre-Solonian silver coinage
15
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
to Athens it is necessary to interpret Aristotle in
a way which, as we have seen, is liable to the
gravest objection. And when this has been done,
there arises a further, purely numismatic, difficulty.
The coins which, even by the most moderate
champion of this theory,1 are assigned to Athens
present an extraordinary variety of types. Wehave on them an owl, a horse, the forepart or
hindquarters of a horse, an amphora, an astragalos,
a wheel. It is difficult to admit that all these
types can have been in use at Athens in the
seventh century.
Among these coins, those with the owl on the
obverse and a rude incuse impression on the
reverse (No. 5) naturally suggest an Athenian
origin. Moreover, all the known specimens have
been found on Attic soil. Is it not then possible
that these are the first coins issued from the
Athenian mint as organised by Solon ? The
heaviest among them are what writers of a later
period would have called SiS/xr^ta, that is, they
weigh 8 '47 grammes max., which doubtless repre-
sents the normal 873 grammes. Aristotle, in the
passage we have discussed, says r)v 8' 6 dp^atos
XapaKTyp 8tSpa;(/Aoi>. This has by some been taken
to mean that the pre-Solonian struck coin was a
didrachm. The word d/j^atos, however, may simplybe used in reference to the writer's own time,
and so may describe the denomination struck bySolon.
In addition to the silver coins, there exist a few
1 Babelon, op. cit., pp. 234 ff.
16
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
specimens of an electrum heJcte, or sixth of the
stater, with a similar type (No. 4). The provenanceof these specimens, so far as recorded, is entirely in
favour of an Attic origin ; none are known to have
come from any other part of Greece. It is natural
therefore to class these electrum sixths with the
silver owl-coins as representing the earliest Attic
coinage.
These coins with the owl as sole type are veryrare. It may be suggested that they were not
issued in very large quantities, and also that theywere called in at the time of the introduction of the
heavier coins with the head of Athena and the owl,
similar to No. 6. The attribution of the double-
type coins to Solon, although supported by high
authority, has always been disputed. The style of
the head, even on the most archaic specimens,seems to belong more to the middle than to the
beginning of the sixth century. The appearanceof coins with types on both sides is also, to saythe least, excessively rare before the middle of that
century. There is therefore much to be said for
attributing this innovation to Peisistratus, on
whose devotion to Athena we have no need to
insist.1 The beginning of the typically Athenian
coinage thus coincides with the period when Athens
began to count as a really great power in Greek
politics.
1 See H. von Fritze, Zeit.f. Num., xx. pp. 153 ff.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA
555-541 B.C.
7. Obv. Foreparts of lion r., with jaws open, and
bull 1., heraldically confronted.
Rev. Two incuse squares side by side.
British Museum. Gold Stater, 8 '03 grammes. B. V. Head, Num.Chr. t 1875, PL x. 1 ; B. M. C. Lydia, PI. i. 15 ; C. A.> PI. 1, 13.
The attribution of this coin to Croesus must
not be regarded as absolutely settled;but as it
and similar coins are almost certainly of Lydian
origin, and in style belong to the sixth century B.C.,
they seem to have a better claim than any others
to be regarded as the K/ooumoi orarij/oes.1
Theyare of gold of a very fine quality, and fall into
two classes. One of these weighs normally 8 '18
grammes, or about 3 grains troy more than the
English sovereign. The other weighs 10*91 grammes.These two standards we call by the names '
gold-shekel
'
and '
Babylonian'
standard respectively.
In addition to the gold staters, there were struck
on each standard smaller denominations (thirds,
sixths, and twelfths of the stater). Further, wehave silver staters, halves, thirds, and twelfths on
the Babylonian, but not on the gold-shekel standard.
Electrum now disappears from the Lydian coinage,
although it continues to be issued in the neighbour-
ing Greek mints.
Among the electrum coins attributed to Lydiain an earlier period we find evidence of two
1Pollux, ix. 84 ; cp. Hesych., s.v.
18
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
standards. One of these is the Babylonian ; the
other is the '
Phoenician,' of which the stater weighs
normally 14 '54 grammes. This Phoenician
standard was convenient for commerce with manyof the Greek cities on the coast, while coins on the
Babylonian standard would naturally pass more
easily towards the east. The new Croesean goldwas issued on two standards for a similar reason.
The relation between gold and silver was at this
time, as we are told by Herodotus,1
13:1, or more
accurately 13 '3 : 1. At this rate, a gold shekel of
8*18 grammes would be equivalent to very nearly10 staters of silver struck on the Babylonianstandard. 2
Again a gold stater of the Babylonianstandard would, on the same principle, be equiva-lent to 10 staters of silver struck on the Phoenician
standard. 3
Thus, when both Babylonian and Phoe-
nician standards were in use in neighbouringcountries for the weighing of metal coined or un-
coined, the advantage of the double system was
obvious. Yet, as carried out, it had the drawback
that the gold staters of the two standards were
not distinguishable at a glance. This defect might
easily have been remedied by a change of types ;
but the fall of Lydia and the Persian reorganisation
produced an entirely new monetary system (see
No. 11).
Herodotus says4 that the Lydians were, to his
knowledge, the first to strike and use coins of gold1
iii. 95.9 8-18x13-3=108 79= 10x10-88.3 10-91 x 13-3=145-10= 10x14-51.4
i. 94.
19
\
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
and silver. He was perfectly familiar with electrum ;
and we know l that there are electrum coins of earlier
style than the gold and silver money attributed
to Croesus, while it is almost as certain that the
silver coinage of Greece Proper begins as early as
the seventh century B.C., long before the time of
Croesus. Herodotus cannot be using 'gold and
silver 'in the sense of a mixture of the two metals.
Nor can his words be strained to mean that the
Lydians were the first to use a coinage which com-
prised both gold and silver, as opposed to the
simple coinages in one metal. We are forced to
conclude, therefore, that he had forgotten, if he
ever knew, that there was any coinage earlier than
the Lydian gold and silver with which we are
dealing ;and as has already been suggested,
2 the
fame of Croesus if to him these coins really
belong was such that his coinage would cause its
predecessors to be forgotten.The type of the coins has been variously ex-
plained, but never with much semblance of proba-
bility. The opposition of the lion and the bull is a
common motive in the art of the Near East. In
Asia Minor we shall not be far out in connectingit with the cult of the Anatolian Mother-Goddess,with which the symbol of the lion devouring the
bull is so frequently associated.8
1 See above, No. 1.
2 See above, p. 2.
1 Crowfoot in /. H. S., xx. p. 118 f.
20
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
ZANCLE AND RHEGIUM, AT THE END OF THE
SIXTH CENTURY
8. Obv. D>ANKUE Dolphin 1. ;the whole within a
sickle-shaped object, outside and inside
of which are pellets.
Rev. Dolphin r. within similar object ;all incuse.
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Drachm. Wt. 5 '68 grammes.W. Wroth, Num. Chr., 1900, p. 5, PI. i. 1 ; cp. A. J. Evans, Num.
Chr., 1896, p. 101, PL viii. 1. 2.
9. Obv. RECINON (retrograde). Bull with humanhead in swimming attitude 1. ; above, a
locust.
Rev. Similar type r. and symbol ; all incuse.
Fig. 1. Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris. Silver
Aeginetic drachm, 5 '64
grammes. Garrucci, Lemonete ddV Italia antica,
PL cxiv. 1.
10. Obv. MOP Poseidon, nude but for chlamysover shoulders, striding r., wieldingtrident. Cable border.
Rev. MOT Similar, but type 1., and seen from
behind ; all, except the inscription and
the trident, incuse.
British Museum. Silver Campanian Stater, 7 '48 grammes. Head,O. A., PL 7, 12.
It was about the middle of the sixth centurythat the cities of Magna Graecia began to issue
coins with their own types, instead of using money21
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
imported from Greece Proper. The standard
adopted by most of the Achaean colonies Siris,
Metapontum, Croton, Sybaris, Caulonia, Pyxus,Laiis, etc. was the Corinthian, with staters of
about 8 '42 grammes, and thirds of about 2 '8 5
grammes. Tarentum employed a stater of the same
weight, but divided into halves. At Poseidonia
(No. 10) we find the Campanian standard charac-
teristic of its neighbour Velia. Rhegium, on the
other hand, was closely connected with Zancle
across the strait, and therefore employed the
Aeginetic standard.1 This standard, as it happened,
was particularly convenient for the cities in this
portion of the Greek west. The majority of the
Greek colonies in Sicily employed the Euboic-Attic
standard ; and the Aeginetic drachm was approxi-
mately one-third of the Euboic-Attic tetradrachm.
On the other hand it was also roughly the equivalentof two of the drachms of which the Corinthian
stater contained three.
Euboic-Attic Aeginetic CorinthianTetradrachm. Drachm. Drachm.
x 17'44 = 5'81 = 2x2-90 grammes.So that the standard in use at Zancle and Rhegiumexactly corresponds to the geographical position of
the two cities.2
The early coins of Magna Graecia present a
peculiarity of fabric which is not found elsewhere,
save at Zancle. This peculiarity, illustrated by1 The highest weight recorded by Mr. Evans for the earliest coins of
Zancle is 5 '76 grammes. That these were meant to be Aeginetic drachms
is shown by the occurrence of obols of *90 grammes, which do not fit in
with any other standard.8
Hill, Handbook, p. 36.
22
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the three coins before us, consists of the repetition
on the reverse in incuse of the essentials of the
obverse type, which is in relief. Small details, and
usually the legend, are omitted in the repetition.
The effect is almost that produced when in striking
coins the workman forgets to take away one piece
before he places the next in position. But there is
this difference : what we have on the incuse reverse
of these coins is often a back view of the figure on
the obverse. Thus on No. 10 we see on the reverse
that portion of the god's chlamys which on the
obverse is concealed, because it passes behind his
back. We have a naive attempt to enable one, so
to speak, to look through the coin and see the
obverse type from behind.
What was the reason for this peculiar fashion ?*
Had it been adopted for some technical purpose,
for convenience in striking or in packing corns, wecan see no reason why it should have died out
rather suddenly. Had the cause been a federation
with a commercial and economic basis, we should
have found it accompanied by a community of
standard ; probably also by some community of
type.It is well known that at the time with which we
are dealing, the Pythagorean brotherhood exerted
an extraordinary influence in southern Italy.
1 Elsewhere (Handbook, p. 152 f.) I have suggested that it was
intended to facilitate the piling of coins. Mr. C. R. Peers pointed out to
me the objections against this view, and suggested that there was pro-
bably, after all, something in Lenormant's theory of Pythagorean in-
fluence ; but he is not responsible for the application which I have made
of his hint.
23
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Pythagoras himself seems to have arrived in
Croton at the beginning of the last third of the
century.1 The coinage of southern Italy cannot
have begun much later, for we have a few coins of
Sybaris, which was destroyed in 511-510 B.c.2 The
south Italian monetary'
federation'
has alreadybeen connected with the Pythagorean domination.
The peculiarities which differentiate this union, the
sole bond of which appears to be similarity of
fabric, from real monetary unions, prompt us to
look for its explanation in some such abnormal
influence as was wielded by the Pythagoreanschool. And as the fabric is a somewhat fantastic
one, we need not fear the charge of fancifulness if
we look for what, in other circumstances, would be
a far-fetched explanation. Is it not possible that
in this representation of both views, both front and
back, of the same object, there may have been
some awkward attempt to express one of those ten
pairs of contraries of which the Pythagorean systemmade so much ? To ovv 8eioi> KOI oVa> /cat e
ayOaov CKaXovv, TO 8e apurTepov Kal Kara) KCU
KO.KOV eXeyov.3
Why, it may be asked, take so
much trouble to represent unnecessarily whatwas KO.KOV ? The answer is, that it was not un-
necessary, according to this system, for the complete
representation of the object in its essence : c/c
yap (rS>v o^rot^eteuv) &? WTrap)(ovTa)v crvvtcr-
1 533-532 or 529-528 B.C. Busolt, Or. Oegch., ii.2762.
2 Also of Siris, the destruction of which Busolt dates about 530 (op.
cit., ii.9758) ; but the date is quite uncertain.
8 Aristot. ap. Simplic. de. caelo, 173" 11. See Ritter and Preller, Hist.
Phil. Or., 55 e.
24
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
rdvcu KOL 7T7rXacr0ai (fracrl rr)i> ovcrtav.1 Note that
the peculiarity of the fabric emphasises the fact
that we see hack and front of the same figure,
much more than would be the case if both sides
were in relief, as on most coins.
But to return to less speculative questions con-
nected with the coinage. Until the discovery near
Messina in 1895 of the Zanclean coins, of which
our No. 8 is an example, this fabric was supposedto be confined to the Italian peninsula. The dis-
covery emphasises the intimacy of the relations
between the two sides of the strait. Naxos,
which was also in close relations with Zancle,2
was sufficiently far removed from Rhegium to be
uninfluenced by the peculiar fabric.
The hoard of coins from which No. 8 comes seems
to have been buried about the beginning of the
fifth century possibly at the time of the revolu-
tion discussed below (Nos. 12 f.), after which the' Messenian
'
coinage began.The type of the Zanclean coin is a good instance
of early heraldry. The local word ay/cXoi>,which
gave its name to the city, meant sickle,3 and the
harbour was enclosed by a sickle-shaped bar of
sand. This fact is expressed by placing a dolphinemblem of the sea within a sickle-shaped bar.
The word <xy/cXoi/ may have meant anything sickle -
shaped, and we may doubt whether the object is
1Aristot., Metaph., I. 5, 986 b 9.
2 The Messina hoard contained, in addition to the Zanclean coins, a
smaller number of coins of Naxos. Evans, loc. cit.
3Thuc., vi. 4.
25
really meant for a sickle. It does not look as if it
would be an effective instrument for reaping. True,this may be due to the inefficiency of the die-
engraver ; but on some of the later coins the objecthas four rectangular bosses on it, which would still
further spoil its cutting power.1
The human-headed bull, which is the type of the
earliest Rhegine coin, is a river god, and probably
represents one of the small streams falling into the
sea near Rhegium. Their ancient names seem to
be unknown.
DAREIUS I.
521-486 B.C.
11. Obv. The King of Persia, with long beard,
wearing low crown (Jcidaris) and longrobe (kandys), in semi-kneeling postureto r. ; at his back, quiver ; in his out-
stretched 1., bow; in his r. spear, with
apple-shaped butt.
Rev. Irregular incuse impression.
British Museum. Gold Daric, 8 '35 grammes. Head, C. A., PL 1, 17.
The etymology of the adjective Aa/sei/cos has
been the subject of much discussion. Some have
derived it from the Assyrian words darag or
dariku : darag meaning'
degree'
(i.e. ^ of the
mina), dariku being explained as the name of a
1 Evans, op. cit., p. 107, suggests that they are buildings (so previouslyP. Gardner, Types of Greek Coins, p. 90). The form Adv/cXij, as Evans
remarks, shows that the word glossed by Thucydides was written
by the Sic els an easily paralleled dialectical variation.
26
PLATE I.
<
'
itB&*^^^
Nos. i n.
HISTOKICAL GREEK COINS
measure, although it more probably denotes a
vegetable product of some kind. Others againhave derived it from the Persian name of Dareius,
Darayavaush. To this it has been justly objected
that this could not give us the form Dareikos.
Curiously enough, in all this discussion, the ety-
mology which stares one in the face has, if it has
ever been seen, at least escaped approval.1 The
word Aa/oei/co? must be a pure Greek formation
from the Greek form Aa/oeto? of the Persian name
Darayavaush ;
2
just as*
fanciful'
is a pure Englishformation from the English form '
fancy'
of the
Greek ^avravia. If the word existed in Persian
as the name of a coin and of this there is no
evidence it would be necessary to find a direct
Persian derivation for it. As it is, we may take
it for granted, that the Greeks gave the name'
coin of Dareius'
to the gold and silver3 coins of
the Persian Empire. But it does not necessarily
follow that the coin was introduced by Dareius I.
He, as Herodotus tells us,4 took the purest gold,
refined it to the greatest possible degree, and
struck coins -of it. This reads as if Dareius was
the actual initiator of the Persian gold coinage.
Harpocration,5 on the other hand, says that most
people thought the daric was called after Dareius
the father of Xerxes, but that it really took its
name from some older king. If the daric was in-
1 It was the generally accepted Greek etymology. See Harpocration,cited below.
2 See Encyclopaedia Biblica, art.'
Shekel,' 4.
1 For the use of the name for silver coins, see Plut. , dm. , 10.
4 iv. 166. *s.v. Aapei/c6$; cp. Schol. Aristoph., Eccl, 602.
27
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS -
troduced by one of the predecessors of Dareius i.
and coins of this class have been conjecturallyascribed to Cyrus and Cambyses this fact, com-
bined with the obvious significance of the name,would be sufficient to give rise to the tradition that
they were named after an earlier Dareius.
Unfortunately, in the matter of classifying the
large numbers of darics which have come down to
us, the criterion of style can only be applied with
the utmost caution;for the treatment of the type
is extremely uniform and conventional, and the dif-
ferences consist in minute details. M. Babelon,1
however, starting from a class represented by a
find from the Athos Canal and therefore belongingto either Xerxes or [his father has attempted the
difficult task of a chronological arrangement. The
specimen here illustrated would, according to that
classification, belong to Dareius i.
The silver coin which corresponded to the golddaric was generally known as the oryXo? (some-times crtyXos MrjStKo?). This word is the same as
the Hebrew shekel. The normal weight of the daric
is 8 '40 grammes. The relation between gold and
silver being 13 '3: 1,2 one gold daric would be equi-
valent in value to twenty pieces of 5*58 grammes.This corresponds closely to the weight of the
0-17X09, which was evidently fixed so as to makeit a convenient fraction of the gold daric.
In type the siglos resembles the gold daric. The
spear carried by the king is of the type used by1 Lea Perses AcMmtnides, p. xiv.2 See above, p. 19.
28
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
thefj,r)\6<f>6poi
of the royal body-guard ;Herodotus l
tells us that those nearest to Xerxes had (golden)
apples on their spears. The attitude of the king is
that familiar to all students of early Greek art a
crude attempt to represent running.The gold darics formed one of the most im-
portant currencies of ancient times, and circulated
in very large quantities in Greece, as well as on the
outskirts of the Persian Empire. How far theywere used in Persia itself is doubtful; probably
they were intended primarily for external circula-
tion, and for the payment of mercenaries employed
by Persian generals.2
RHEGIUM AND ZANCLE-MESSANA IN THE
TIME OF ANAXILAS
494-476 B.C.
12. Obv. Lion's scalp on a round shield.
Rev. Prow of Samian galley 1.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17*31 grammes.P. Gardner, Samos and Samian Coins, PI. i. 17 (Num. Chron., 1882).
13. Obv. Lion's head facing.
Rev. MESSENION Calf's head 1.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17 '31 grammes. Head,
H.N.,p. 134; C. A., PI. 9, 30.
14. Obv. Mule-car (apene) driven to r. by a
bearded charioteer.
Rev. MESSENION Hare running r.
British Museum. Silver Attic Didrachm. Wt. 8.49 grammes.G. F. Hill, /. H. S., xvii. p. 88, PI. ii. 7.
1vii. 41. 2
Babelon, op. cit., p. vii.
29
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
15. Ob u. Mule-car driven by male charioteer to r. ;
above, Nike flying r. crowning the
mules ; in exergue, laurel-leaf.
Rev. MESSANION Hare running r.;in field,
laurel-spray.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm. Wt. 17'14 grammes.P. Gardner, B. M. C. Sicily, p. 101, No. 18.
16. Ob v. Lion's head facing.
Rev. PECI(N)ON (retrograde). Calf's head 1.
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Drachm, 5 '69 grammes. R. S. Poole,
B. M. C. Italy, p. 373, No. 1.
17. Obv. Mule-car driven r. by bearded charioteer ;
in exergue, laurel-leaf.
Rev. PECINON (retrograde). Hare running r.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm (or Aeginetic Tridrachm),17*17 grammes.
The Samians and the Milesian refugees were the
only people who accepted the invitation to settle at
Kale Akte that was sent by theZancleans toIonia. Ontheir way they touched at Locri, and there Anaxilas,
who was on bad terms with Zancle, tampered with
them. He persuaded them to take possession, not of
Kale Akte, but of Zancle itself, which was at the
time denuded of its military forces, since the king,
Scythes, was occupied in the siege of a Sicel town.
The new-comers made use of the opportunity, and
the Zancleans, shut out of their city, appealed to
Hippocrates of Gela. In this quarter also theymet with treachery. Hippocrates betrayed their
cause to the Samians, who retained possession of
30
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Zancle, while the original inhabitants were en-
slaved. Scythes ended his days at the Persian
court. This is the account given by Herodotus in
a passage which seems to be inspired by a source
friendly to the old Zancleans.1 Elsewhere 2 he tells
us that Cadmus, son of Scythes, whom Dareius had
probably made tyrant of Cos, resigned the tyranniswhich he had inherited from his father, and wentto Sicily. There he received from the Samians 3
the city of Zancle TTJV es Meercnp^i' jaeraySaXoucraj/
TO oVojaa. From the preceding chapter, where it is
said that Cadmus was employed on an important
embassy by Gelon, it appears probable that he was
reigning at Zancle in 480 B.C.4
Finally, Pausanias 5 has a circumstantial account
of the capture of Zancle by Anaxilas and a partyof Messenians. When they obtained possession of
the city, they lived in concord with the old inhabi-
tants, but altered the name of the city to Messene.
But Pausanias dates all this in the 29th Olympiad,and makes it a sequel to the Second Messenian
War ! Are we to reject his story as a mere fabri-
cation ? It certainly bears traces of an aetiological
origin :
'
the place was re-named Messene, therefore
it must have been colonised by exiles from Messenein Peloponnesus.' Possibly some support was givento the invention by the presence of Messenians
among the colonists whom Anaxilas placed in the
city.6
1vi. 23, 24. a
vii. 164.3
irapa. Sa/i/ow. Bekker reads jieri S.4Busolt, Gr. Qesch., ii.
3p. 782, n. 2. 5 iv. 23, 5 ff.
6Busolt, loc. cit.
31
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
How do the coins illustrate this problem ?l In
the first place it must be noticed that the lion's
scalp (not head) and the calfs head are types of
Samos, and that the prow on No. 12 is of the
Samian kind. The fact that tetradrachms like
No. 12 have been found near Messina,2 taken in
conjunction with the absence of any inscription on
them, gives much force to the suggestion that theyare derived from the Samian colonists who came in
493 B.C. Next, we observe that the name Messene
was borne by the city when it was still strikingcoins with Samian types, and that these Samian
types are found on coins of Rhegium of contem-
porary style. Finally, in both cities appear the
types of the mule-car and hare, and in the Sicilian
city the legend, which at first had the Ionic form
Mco-cro/iov, is afterwards changed to the Doric
Metrcramoi/.
Now as to the new types. Pollux 3tells us, on
the authority of Aristotle, that Anaxilas, havingintroduced the hare into Sicily, and having wonthe apene-race at Olympia, placed apene and hare
on the coinage of Khegium. Head 4 doubts the
accuracy of this explanation. He regards the typeof the hare as a religious one, connected with the
worship of Pan, who on a tetradrachm of Messene
is represented caressing a hare; the tradition of
1 The coin with Poseidon on the obv.,and dolphin on the rev. , reading
AavxXcuoi', must belong, as Evans has shown (Num. Chron., 1896,
pp. 109 f.) to an otherwise unrecorded restoration of Zancle under its
old name about the middle of the fifth century.8 Zeit. f. Num., iii. p. 135, and v. p. 103.
T. 73.* H. N.1
, p. 93.
32
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the introduction of the hare into Sicily by Anaxilas
may ha've originated merely in his introduction of
the hare-coins. In any case, however, the instru-
mentality ofAnaxilas in having the type ofthe mule-
car placed on the coins is not denied. But the fact
that both types appear at the same time in twocities politically connected with each other suggeststhat they owe their origin to the same cause. Is
the hare merely the symbol of a cult introduced byAnaxilas, or does it allude to his introduction of
the animal into Sicily as Aristotle (so far as we can
trust Pollux) believed ? On this question those
who hold the extreme view of the religious originof coin-types will pronounce for the former alter-
native. But why should not Aristotle's statement
be accurate ? The type of Pan caressing the hare
cannot be held to prove that the hare was adoptedas a type because it was his attribute. It onlymeans that, once it was adopted, the die engraver,allowed to indulge his fancy, associated the animal
with the god to whom it was sacred.
The connexion of these types with Anaxilas is
clear enough ; but the precise significance of the
Samian types at both cities is difficult to ascertain.
It is easy to understand why the Samians should
issue in their new home coins with types recalling
their old one. But why did Anaxilas himself issue
in E/hegium coins with the same types (No. 16.) ? It
cannot have been merely out of sympathy with the
new colony. We have to remember that Anaxilas
was a tyrant, whose power in all probability was
continually threatened by the remnants of the
c 33
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
oligarchical party which he had subverted.1 There
is every reason to suppose that, when he bought the
Samian immigrants at Locri, he did so because it
was to his advantage to have friends instead of
enemies across the straits. There was probably,
therefore, a close alliance between the Samians in
Zancle and Anaxilas in Rhegium, and of this
alliance the similarity of coin-types is a proof. Asto the change of name, this may or may not have
been due to the influence of Anaxilas ; but in anycase the coins offer distinct evidence to the effect
that the change was made while the Samians were
still masters of the city. It was probably some
time before 480 B.C. that Cadmus, the son of
Scythes, returned to Sicily and entered into posses-sion of his father's old dominion. This, of course,
involved a breach with Anaxilas, and resulted in
the expulsion of the Samians and their new king.
Anaxilas then recolonised the place with a mixed
population ;and the fact that the inscription
changes from the Ionic to the Doric form shows
that the Doric element in the colony eventually
got the upper hand. After the death of Anaxilas
(476 B.C.) the Messanians continued to be ruled
by his dynasty until 461 B.C.2 From that date
until 427 B.C. we have no light on the historyof Messana, except such as is thrown by a coin
(mentioned above, p. 32, note 1,) which shows
that about the middle of the century there
1Aristotle, Pol., viii. (v.), p. 1316 a 38.
a His son had perhaps already been governor of Rhegium for some
years (Busolt, Or. Gesch., iii. (i.)J169, n. 7).
34
PLATE II.
Nos. 12 19.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
was a temporary restoration of the Zanclean
faction.
Such seems to be the most probable outline of
the history of Messana at this period. It is need-
less to insist on the large element which conjecturemust play in the construction of such a sketch.
ACRAGAS AND HIMERA UNDER THERON
488-472 B.C.
18. Obv. AKfrA Eagle with closed wings stand-
ing 1.
Rev. Freshwater crab.
British Museum. Silver Attic Didrachm, 8 '68 grammes. P. Gardner,B. M. C. Sicily, p. 6, No. 13.
19. Obv. HIMEfrA. Cock standing 1.
Rev. Freshwater crab as on No. 18.
British Museum. Silver Attic didrachm, 8 '59 grammes. P. Gardner,
op. cit., p. 78, No. 24.
Theron, son of Aenesidemus, seized the tyrannyof Acragas in 488-487 B.C.
1 As an ally of Gelon
of Syracuse, who married his daughter Damarete,he was opposed to the . designs of Anaxilas of
Rhegium in northern Sicily. Anaxilas was married
to Cydippe, the daughter of Terillus of Himera.
In the war which eventually broke out, Himera
fell into the power of Theron, who retained posses-
sion until his death in 472-471. His son Thrasy-
daeus, who had acted as his lieutenant in Himera,1Busolt, Or. Oesch., ii.
a 787.
35
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
now succeeded to the whole dominion, only to fall
immediately before the power of Syracuse.
During a brief period there appears on the
reverse of the coins of Himera the freshwater crab,
the special type of Acragas. This marks the epochof Acragantine supremacy in the northern city.
The coins of Himera had previously been struck
on the Aeginetic standard ; but with the changeof masters the Euboic-Attic standard, which had
always been in use in Acragas, was introduced into
the coinage of Himera.
The crab is probably not a marine crab, but
a freshwater species.1 '
If so, the crab would repre-
sent the river Akragas.'2 The eagle, the forerunner
of the magnificent pair who figure on the later
decadrachms of Acragas, is presumably the bird
of Zeus. That his cult prevailed at Acragas, weknow from later coins. The cock of Himera is bysome, in the same way, connected with Asklepios,
3
or at least with some healing-god ; for there were
famous healing springs near Himera. But the
coins struck in later times at Thermae Himerenses
show no trace of such a cult. It is therefore
worth while to consider the alternative explana-tion proposed by Eckhel, the founder of scientific
numismatics. He suggests that, as the bird of
day-dawn,4 the cock is a punning allusion to the
1 Imhoof-Blumer and Keller, Tier- u. Pflanzenbilder auf Miinzen u.
Gemmen, PL viii. 1.
2 Head, H, N.\ p. 104.
Head, H. N. 1, p. 125.
*Plut., de Pyth. Orac., 12 (p. 400 c): or i>v d\Krpv6va ironfaaj ttri rijs
f TOV 'AiroXXwvoj f(j}QiVT)v vnfSrjXufffv upav na.1 xaipby tiriovffijs dcaroX?}s.
36
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
name of the town. Plato l indeed says that
was an older form of??/ue/oa ; but on such a vague
statement little reliance can be placed.2
Still the
words are near enough in spelling and sound to
admit of a pun, such as is common in the historyof Greek coinage.
THE DAMARETEIA
480-479 B.C.
20. Obv. Slow quadriga to r., driven by male
charioteer, in long dress, the horses
crowned by a flying Nike ;in exergue,
lion r.
Rev. Yf>AI<OION Female head (of Nike?) r.,
laureate, surrounded by dolphins. Thewhole in circular incuse.
British Museum. Silver decadrachm or irevri)Kovra\irpov. 44'426
grammes. B. V. Head, C. A., PI. 17, 33. Cp. A. J. Evans, Num.Chron., 1894, PI. vi.
The traditions as to the origin of the Damareteia
are two. Both agree in connecting the name with
that of the wife of Gelon. Diodorus, however,3
saysthat the coins were struck out of money received
from the Carthaginians after their defeat, while,
1CratyL, 418 C.D. a
Cp. Jannaris, Hist. Or. Grammar, % 41.
3 xi. 26, 3. ol 5t Kapx~no6noi (after their defeat by Gelon) irapaSbfas rijs
ffuryptas rfrcvxdTes ravrd re (the indemnity demanded by Gelon) ouMreiv
irpofffS^avro Kal crrttpavov xPvffo^v T1J yvvaiKi rov PAo^os Aa/j-aptry irpoffufj.0-
\6yijffa.i'. aih-rj yap vir' avruv di-tuOeicra. mrjpryqrt tr\tlaTOV fls rty
TJJJ elprivys, Kal ffre^avudeiffa vir' aiiruv eKarbv raXavrois xpvfflov,
f^KO\f/e rb K\r)6v aw' fKeivris Aa/ia/s^retov* TOVTO 8' elxe H^v 'Arrt/cij
dtxat (K\i]di) 5^ irapd rotj 2i/ceXt(ira(s a.irb rov <rra.6p.ov TrevTrjKOvrdXiTpo
37
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
according to Julius Pollux l and Hesychius,2
it was
produced from ornaments devoted by Damareteand other Syracusan women to their country'scause. We have further to reckon with the ap-
parent fact that, according to one tradition, the
gold out of which Gelon, Hieron, Polyzelus and
Thrasybulus dedicated tripods at Delphi, wasknown as
' Damaretian gold.' An epigram of
Simonides 3 contains a couplet saying that the
tripods were dedicated
t tKCLTOV XiTp&V KOL 7T&V1]KOVTCL TCtXdvTOiV
Aa/>Tioi> xpv&ov, ras Se/caras SeKarav.
Bentley emended Aapcrtou to Aa/Aa/seu'ov. Whether,
however, we accept his emendation or not, the
evidence of this couplet is worth little: for it is
clearly one of the many additions from which
Simonidean epigrams have suffered at the hands
of Alexandrian scholars.4 Were the emendation
certain and the couplet of Simonidean date, wecould infer on excellent authority : (1) that all the
treasure obtained from the Carthaginians went bythe name of '
Damaretian,' and (2) that the coins
called Damareteia were struck out of that treasure
and not out of ornaments presented by the queenand other women. As matters stand, it seems
(Bentley's reading being admitted) that the couplet
1 Onom. , ix. 85.'H ATj/topfrr; TAwvcs ofoa. yvvri, KO.T&. rbv irpbt Af/3i/oi
ir6\tfiov dropoOvTOj avrov, rbv Kba^ov alTijffafjL^vt] Trop&TuH' yvvatKuv avyxwve^-
vop.iafj.a. (.KO^HTO Aa/nap^Tioy.
?, vdpifffM iv 2use\ly. inrb rt\uvos icoirtv, ^irt8oi/<ri;i avr<?
rrft ywauc&t (It afirb rbv Kba^ov.* Suidas Aaperiov and Anthol. Pal., \i. 214.4Cp. Wilaraowitz-Moellendorflf in Gotting. Nachrichten, 1897, p. 314.
38
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
enshrines just the kind of error that an interpolatorwould make. Knowing the fact that preciousmetal obtained from the defeated Carthaginianswas associated with the name of Gelon's queen, he
would extend the name 'Damaretian' to all the
treasure, out of a tenth of which the tripods were
dedicated.
Busolt loffers one solution of the difficulty. Ac-
cepting the tradition represented by Pollux and
Hesychius, and assuming the first Damareteia to
have been struck before the battle of Himera, he
explains the other tradition by supposing that
Gelon, after the victory, struck a number of coins
which were known as Damareteia, because the first
coins of that kind were struck in the circumstances
already mentioned. 2
Evans,3 on the other hand, unhesitatingly prefers
the account of Diodorus. In his favour we must
remember that such a magnificent piece of moneyit stands alone in the Sicilian coinage before the
defeat of the Athenian expedition is not the kind
of coin which would be produced amid the pressureof war-preparations. It is, on the other hand, just
the kind of coin which would be produced in the
time of triumph after the victory of Himera. Wehave the analogy of the later Syracusan
' medal-
lions/ pieces exactly similar in motive, althoughlater in style by some seventy years at least.
1 Or. Gesch., ii.2pp. 789, 796.
a Busolt's remark (p. 796, note 2), that the head on the Damareteia
gives the impression of a portrait, will not, I think, be confirmed by anytrained numismatist.
3Syracusan 'Medallions,' p. 123.
39
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
These, as EvaDs has shown, belong to the period
following the defeat of the Athenians at the
Assinarus. 1
There is probably something in both the tradi-
tions. In order to accept the view to which Evans
has lent the weight of his authority, it is unneces-
sary wholly to reject the evidence of Pollux and
Hesychius. What happened was probably this.
Damarete and the other ladies made the sacrifice
for which they have justly been honoured; but,
when the new coins were struck after the victory,
some sort of return for their treasures, which had
been melted down, was made to them in the form
of the Darnareteia. When so much treasure was
acquired from the enemy, it would be no derogationfrom the value of their sacrifice that they should be
repaid in part or in whole.
Very few specimens of the Damareteion are
extant. Evans 2 enumerates ten specimens, and
among these he distinguishes no less than four
different dies for the one side of the coin, and three
for the other. Nevertheless * the general style of
the engraving is so uniform on all the existing
varieties of the Damareteion, that we must con-
tinue to regard them as having been struck con-
temporaneously.' From a modern point of view,
the number of dies used, compared with the number
of extant specimens, is remarkably large. But the
coin was of greater weight and diameter than anywhich had been produced in Sicily before, and the
1Syracusan
'
Medallions,'' pp. 131 ff. ; see below, No. 29.
2 Num. Chron., 1894, p. 190.
40
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
strain on the comparatively weak dies which the
Syracusans were capable of making must have heen
excessive. The coins, as we know, were struck
out of the silver equivalent of 100 talents of gold.Some have supposed that the talents were the
small Attic talents containing six gold drachms.
More probably Diodorus' authority meant the
local Sicilian talents, which, as the silver talent
contained 120 litrae of silver, would contain 120
litrae of gold.1 The wreath would therefore con-
tain 12,000 litrae of gold, which at the exchangerate of 15:1 would account for an issue of 3600
TrevrrjKovTdXiTpa of silver. Any smaller number is
rendered improbable by the number of recorded
dies. Evans indeed goes further. Arguing from
the emended and probably spurious couplet which
we have discussed, he thinks 2 that ' the share of
the Carthaginian loot received by Gelon and his
brothers, with the exception of the tenth partreserved for the votive tripod, may have been
devoted to the coinage of the Damareteia.' Butthis is disproved by the testimony of Diodorus 3
and others, to the effect that Gelon, among other
things, built a considerable double temple of
Demeter and Kore, unless indeed we suppose that
he turned his funds into coin in order to pay for
these works. We have also to remember that tetra-
drachms were issued with exactly the same typesas the decadrachms, and presumably out of the
same treasure.1 See Evans, Syracusan 'Medallions,' pp. 124 f.
2 Num. Chron., 1894, p. 194.3 xi. 25, 1 ; 26, 7. See Busolt, ii.
2p. 796, n. 3.
41
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
It is not possible to identify with certainty the
goddess whose head is represented on the Dam-areteion. The supposition that she is Nike seems
to have most in its favour. In any case, the sig-
nificance of the dolphins is plain. Here, as on
the later decadrachms (No. 29), they stand for the
sea surrounding the island of Ortygia, on which
the goddess was worshipped. As to the symbol in
the exergue below the chariot, it may seem fanciful
to suppose that it is the African lion, and refers to
the defeat of the Carthaginians ; but there is no
doubt that exergual symbols on Sicilian coins often
have historical significance of this kind. On the
contemporary tetradrachms of Leontini, in addition
to the lion which is used as the badge of the city,
a similar lion occurs with apparently the same
significance.1
The Damareteion, in historical significance, ranks
almost first among Greek coins. Artistically also
it is of incomparable importance. Its fixed date
makes it the chiefpoint d'appui for the numismatist
in his classification of fifth century Sicilian coins.
But, apart from this, it has extraordinary merit of
its own ;and the eye which has been sated by the
beauty of the later Syracusan coinage finds relief
in its fresh and naive charm. 2
1Hill, Coins of Ancient Sicily, p. 77, PI. v. 4.
2 I may refer to my Coins of Ancient Sicily, pp. 55 f. for a description
of its artistic qualities.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
HIEEON'S FOUNDATION OF AETNA
476 BEFORE 461 B.C.
21. Obv. Head of bald Seilenus r.
Rev. KATANE Thunderbolt with two curled
wings.
British Museum. Silver Sicilian Litra, 0'28 gramme. P. Gardner,B. M. C. Sicily, p. 42, No. 9.
22. Obv. AITNAION Head of bald Seilenus r.
wearing ivy-wreath ; beneath, beetle.
Rev. Zeus Atri/cuos seated r. on throne covered
with a skin, his r. hand resting on a
vine-staff, his 1. holding a thunderbolt
with two curled wings ;in the field, an
eagle on a pine-tree.
Brussels (Hirsch Collection). Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17 "24 grammes.Hirsch, Num. Chr., 1883, p. 164, PI. ix. 1 ; Head, ibid. p. 171 f.
In 476-475 Hieron of Syracuse removed the in-
habitants of Catana and Naxos from their homes,and replaced them by fresh citizens, drawn in
equal proportions from Syracuse and Peloponnesus.1
His object was not merely to satisfy a despotic
whim, but rather to establish a reserve, in case his
position in Syracuse should be threatened. Theold inhabitants were removed to Leontini. Hieron
renamed Catana Aetna, and gave it the old ' Dorian'
institutions; the government he placed in the hands
of his son Deinomenes and his friend Chromius. Hehimself was honoured as founder, and was buried
1 The ancient sources for the history of this whole episode are collected
in my Sourcesfor Greek History, 478-431 B.C., viii. 43-52, 155, 156.
43
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
there. After his death (spring, 466) and the fall
of Thrasybulus (spring, 465), it was not to be
expected that the foundation would be left undis-
turbed ; and indeed the Sicel leader Ducetius lost
no time in attacking it. Assisted by the Syra-
cusans, he was able to expel the Aetnaeans, whosettled in Inessa, on the southern slope of MountAetna. This place in its turn took its name from
the volcano,1 while Catana reverted to its old name.
Diodorus recounts these events under the archon-
ship of Euthippus (461-460), but they probably took
place soon after the fall of Thrasybulus.2
The unique tetradrachm, No. 22, one of the most
remarkable in the whole Sicilian series, is not the
only monument of the dozen years or so duringwhich Catana bore the name of Aetna. There are
small silver coins reading AUNA I,and bearing the
same types as the little coin, No. 21, with KATANE.The combination of the peculiarly formed thunder-
bolt with the head of Seilenus is sufficient to showthat the two sets of coins belong to the same cityunder different names.
On the tetradrachm, every detail of the typesserves to give local colour. In this connexion I
can hardly do better than quote from Head's ex-
haustive publication of the piece.'It can hardly
be doubted that the Zeus here represented is the
great god of Mount Aetna,3 the volcanic soil of
1 The coins struck in the fourth century and later reading AITNAIDN
belong to this place (Head, H, N. 1, p. 104).
1Cp. Busolt, Or. Gesch., iii. i.
2172, n. 2.
1Find., 01., iv. 10.
44
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
which was especially favourable to the cultivation
of the vine,1 whence perhaps the vine-staff on which
the god rests his arm. ... It is noteworthy that
across the throne of the god is spread the skin of
a lion, or of some other mountain-bred beast of
prey ; but the most characteristic symbol on the
reverse is undoubtedly the pine-tree, eXan? or
TrevKrj, with which, according to Diodorus,2 the
slopes of Aetna were once richly clad. . . . Seilenos,
as we learn from Euripides' satyric drama Kyklops,was enslaved by Polyphemos, and dwelt in the
caves of Aetna with his savage master. More
generally the head of Seilenos may be taken as
pointing to the cultus of Dionysos, who, as we knowfrom other coins, was especially revered at Catana ;
but, as if still further to specialise the locality,
the artist has placed beneath the head of Seilenos
one of those huge scarabei, KoivOapoL, for which
Mount Aetna was celebrated.'8
THEM1STOCLES IN MAGNESIA
AFTER 463 B.C.
23. Obv. GEM ITOI<AEO Apollo, wearing chlamysover his shoulders, standing r., his r.
hand on his hip, his 1. resting on a longbranch of laurel.
Rev. MA Raven (?) flying.
1Strabo, vi. p. 269 : tyfiv TI obcefw/wt wpbs ryv &/j.ire\ov ei/coj TTJV Alrvalav
<rTroS6i>.2 xiv. 42-4. Cp. Find., Pyth., i. 53.
3Aristoph., Pax, 73 and Schol.
45
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Bibliothe;jue Nationals, Paris. Silver Attic Didrachm, 8 '56 grammes.Waddington, Melange* de Numismatique, PL i. 2 ; Babelon, Perses
Achemdnides, PI. ix. 8.
Themistocles landed in Asia about summertimein 469 B.C., but did not reach Susa until shortlyafter the accession of Artaxerxes i. in 464. After
another year's delay he presented himself before the
king, and was received with favour. Being grantedthe revenues of the three cities of Magnesia on the
Maeander, Lampsacus and Myus, he took up his
abode in the first.1 Thence he issued the now ex-
cessively rare coins bearing his name and the letters
MA (for MayvtJTo>v).z He represented on them the
Apollo of Magnesia, and a bird which has been
described as a raven, the oracular bird sacred to
the god. But it bears, as Dressel remarks, much
greater resemblance to some kind of hawk, a bird
which, as we know, was connected with Apollo.3
The identification of birds and mammals on Greek
coins is among the most perplexing tasks that con-
front a numismatist.4
Themistocles' residence in Magnesia was longremembered. He was supposed to have instituted
1Thuc., i. 138, 5 ; Plut., Them., 31 ; Hill, Sources, vi. 44 f.
2 Besides the Paris specimen here illustrated, there are known to metwo other didrachms, in the British Museum (Head, B. M. C. Ionia,
p. 158, a plated specimen) and in the Berlin Museum ( Dressel, Zeitf. Num.,xxi. PI. v. 10, with Apollo to 1., and a bird flying over his hand). Dr.
H. von Fritze informs me that a specimen of the corresponding drachm,
also plated, exists in the collection of A. Haji Demo at Aiclin (Tralles).8Cp. II., xv. 237 ; Od. , xv. 526. Our bird has also been taken for an
eagle, but there is no evidence of any connexion of the eagle with
Apollo.4 There are coins of Paphos in Cyprus in which one despairs of deciding,
not merely between an eagle and a hawk (which need not surprise us),
but between these two and a dove !
46
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
there the festivals of the Panathenaea and the
Choes ^reminiscences of his fatherland.* After his
death the people of Magnesia erected a monument,to his memory ;
2 and even as late as the time of
Plutarch, his descendants were accorded certain
privileges (rtftat rwe?), which Plutarch's friend
Themistocles enjoyed. Although the monument,which was doubtless a heroon of some dimensions,
has not been found in the excavations of Magnesia,we have a representation of the statue of the hero
on a bronze coin (Fig. 2)3 issued at that city, with
the head and name of Antoninus Pius, in the yearof the Secretary (to the Council) Dioscurides Gratus.
It reads on the reverse [~ll
AIOC[1<OYPIAOY] TPATOYMHTP (oTToXeco?) MArNHT (<w).
The type is a nude figure,
identified by an inscription as
eeMICTOKAHC, standing to 1. ;
his 1. hand grasps a sheathed
sword which hangs at his side; FIO. s.-coin of Magnesia, with
in his r. is a phiale, with which
he pours a libation over a lighted altar. In front
of the altar is seen the forepart of a slaughteredbull.
There is no reasonable doubt that we have here
a representation of the statue of Themistocles in
the Magnesian agora. The analogy of other similar
representations proves that, although he appears to
1 Possis of Magnesia, quoted by Athen. , xii. 533 d.2Thuc., i. 138, 5; Diod., xi. 58; Pint., Them., 32, etc.
3Rhousopoulos, Athen. Mitth., xxi. (1896), p. 22.
47
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
be performing a sacrifice himself, he is really the
hero to whom the sacrifice is offered.1
Now we know that a vigorous tradition prevailedas early as the fifth century
2to the effect that
Themistocles committed suicide by drinking the
blood of a bull which he was sacrificing to the
Artemis of Magnesia. We can hardly hesitate to
connect that tradition with the monument as repre-
sented on our coin. There was undoubtedly some
mystery about his death;and the invention of the
story of the bull's blood to account for it would be
much facilitated by the existence of the statue of
which the coin of Antoninus Pius gives us some,
though doubtless but a rude, idea.8
Two out of the four extant specimens of the
coinage issued by Themistocles are made of base
metal plated with silver. The occurrence of platedcoins in the period to which these pieces belong is
on the whole not common ; and we do not knowhow far we have to do with forgeries by private
persons, or with state issues. But the proportionof good to bad in the case of the Themistoclean
coinage is startlingly small ;and we can hardly
doubt that the swindling of his subjects by issuing
plated coins must be reckoned among the tricks of
the astute Athenian.
1 Deities are often represented, as it were, sacrificing to themselves :
an excellent instance is the river-god Selinos on coins of Selinus in Sicily.3Aristoph., Eg. 83 f.
WachBmuth, Rhein. Mus., 52, p. 140; P. Gardner, Class. Rev., 1898,
pp. 21 f.
48
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
NEW SYBAKIS AND THURII
453/452-443 B.C.
24. Obv. VM (=
^v). Poseidon, nude, striding r.,
chlamys over 1. arm, brandishing trident
in r.
Rev. MOH (=
Ilocr). Bull standing r.
Fig. 3, British Museum. Silver Sixth of Italic Stater, 0'85 gramme.Poole, etc., B. M. C. Italy, p. 287, No. 1 ; G. F. Hill, Handbook,
p. 115, PI. iii. 8.
25. Obv. Head of Athena r. in Athenian helmet,
bound with olive-wreath.
Rev. YBAPI Bull standing r., head reverted.
British Museum. Silver Third of Italic Stater, 2*64 grammes. Poole,
etc., op. cit., p. 286, No. 31.
26. Obv. Head of Athena r. in crested Athenian
helmet, bound with olive-wreath.
Rev. GOYPIAN H, Bull butting r.
British Museum. Silver Italic Distater, 0*15 grammes. Poole, etc.,
op. cit., p. 287, No. 1 ; Furtwangler-Sellers, Masterpieces of Oreek
Sculpture, p. 105, note 2, PI. vi. 1 ; Hill, op. cit., PI. vi. 5.
It was in 453-452 B.C.1 that the descendants of
those Sybarites, who had fled to Scidrus and Laiis
after the destruction of their home more than half
a century before, gathered together their forces
and re-founded their city on the old site. But
only six years later (448-447 B.C.) they were driven
out by their implacable foes, the Crotoniates.2 But
1 For the history and chronology of this section, see Busolt, Gr. Gesch.,
iii. i.2pp. 522 f.
2 There is evidence that at one time in its earlier history Sybaris had
stood in friendly relations with Croton ; witness certain silver staters
D 49
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
they did not relax their efforts to recover their
fatherland, and indeed made an appeal to Spartaand Athens to aid them in their aims. Spartawas characteristically unsympathetic ; in Athens,Pericles was not slow to see the advantage of an
outpost of Athenian commerce in southern Italy.
So that in 445 a band of colonists, mainly Athe-
nians, but including also many Peloponnesians,settled in New Sybaris with those who two yearsbefore had been expelled by the Crotoniates. Weare told that the two elements did not harmonise,
the old Sybarites reserving to their own families
the more important offices and privileges. In 444
things came to an open breach;the Sybarites were
expelled, and settled on the River Traeis, whence
shortly afterwards they were driven by the Brut-
tians. Now was the opportunity of Pericles. Hereinforced the earlier colonists by a large expedition,which left Athens in the spring of 443 to seek a
site near Sybaris, under the guidance of the sooth-
sayer Lampon and others. They found it at a
fountain called ov/na (' rushing '),and called their
new city ov/atoi.
Of the three coins illustrated, the first (No. 24)is attributed by most numismatists to the periodof the first foundation of New Sybaris, 453-448 B.C.
But it is not a coin of Sybaris alone ; the type of
bearing on the obverse a tripod (type of Croton) and 9^0, on the reverse
(incuse) a bull with head reverted, and VM for Sybaris. F. von Duhn
(Zeit. fur Num., vii. p. 310), and Busolt (Or. Oesch., ii.2p. 770) regard
these coins as Siegesmunzen struck by the Crotoniates to commemoratetheir destruction of Sybaris, thus opening the way for a revision of the
accepted interpretation of 'alliance-coinages.'
50
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the obverse is that of Poseidonia, and that city is
also indicated by the inscription of the reverse.
We have, in fact, to do with an
alliance coin between Poseidonia
and Sybaris. The interlacement
of the types and inscriptions of FK. S.-NO. 24.
the two cities for the bull belongs to Sybaris as
much as Poseidon to Poseidonia is an unusual
but most effective way of marking the close alliance
between the two cities.1 To the same period belong
other small coins, all of which have on one side
or the other a figure of Poseidon. These therefore
all induce to the conclusion that Poseidonia took
a leading part in the restoration of Sybaris.2
The second coin (No. 25) is attributed byHead 3 to Sybaris on the Traeis. But in order
to explain the Athenian character of the obverse
type, he assumes that the banished Sybaritescontinued to maintain commercial relations with
the more powerful city from which they had been
obliged to retire. If we consider the feelingsof the banished people, we must regard this as
a somewhat unusual proceeding. It seems prefer-
able to assign the coins to the second founda-
tion (445 B.C.), which immediately preceded the
foundation of Thurii.4 The Athenian type is thus
1 So too on a coin of Croton and Temesa (Head, H. N. 1, p. 80). The
ordinary arrangement is found on a coin probably of Poseidonia and
Sybaris (Grarrucci, Mon. dell' Italia Antica, PI. cxxi. 8).
2 Head (H. -ZV.1,?. 70) and Holm (Or. Gesch., ii. p. 287) say that during
the period of exile, from B.C. 510-483, the Sybarites lived in Scidrus, Laiis,
and Poseidonia. Is this last a conjecture based on the coins with which
we are dealing? I know of no other evidence. 3 H. N. 1, p. 71.
4 So P. Gardner, Types, p. 103, followed by Busolt, iii. i.2p. 525 note.
51
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
fully explained, and so is the uniformity of style of
the coins ; for the issue must have come to an end
in two years, when Thurii sprang into existence.
It is unlikely that Sybaris on the Traeis can have
been a place of any importance.The third coin (No. 26) is given as a specimen of
the earliest coinage of Thurii. It belongs to a
small group which is marked off from the later
coins of Thurii by greater severity and nobility of
style ; unfortunately,, its preservation is not of the
best.
ARGOS AND THE ELEANS
IN 420 B.C.
27. Obv. Head of the Hera of Argos r.} wearing
Stephanos with floral decoration.
Rev. APfEI-flN Two dolphins swimming in a
circle ; between them, wolf 1.
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Stater, 11*92 grammes. P.Gardner,B. M. C. Peloponnesus, p. 138, No. 33, PI. xxvii. 9.
28. Obv. Head of Hera r. wearing Stephanos with
floral decoration.
Rev. FA Thunderbolt in olive-wreath.
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Stater, 12 '14 grammes. P. Gardner,
op. cit., p. 64, No. 55, PI. xii. 11, and p. xxxvii. Head, C. A.,PI. 14,30.
The circumstances of the fourfold alliance which
immediately preceded the battle of Mantineia are
too well known to need recapitulation here.1 The
1Busolt, Or. Gesch., iii. (ii.) pp. 1216-1230.
52
PLATE III.
Nos. 20 28.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Argive and Elean coins illustrated belong to a
class which, if we may judge by style, were first
struck about this time.1
It is significant that twoheads so similar in arrangement should appear
concurrently at the two mints, and at once take
the position of chief type. The head at Argos,which is undoubtedly inspired by the Hera of
Polycleitus, is, we may admit, not a fine work of
art. This may be explained by the fact that uptill this time the Argives had been content with
coins of smaller size, affording less scope for a goodartist. An engraver capable of treating the subject
worthily was not to be found at a moment's notice.
At Olympia, on the other hand, the mint had
already produced some of the noblest works of art
known to us among Greek coins;and the earlier
of these heads of Hera, with their large and mas-
sive treatment, form fitting pendants to the head
of Zeus, which was issued from the same mint
about the same time. On some slightly later
specimens, where the artist's style is softer, wefind the name HPA written on or above the crown
of the goddess. On such a coin as No. 28 there is
no necessity for a label of this kind.
The dolphins on the reverse of the Argive coin
are doubtless symbols of Apollo, to whom also the
wolf belongs. On the Elean coin the thunderbolt
of course represents Olympian Zeus, while the
1Head, H. N. 1
, p. 354, places the appearance of the head of Hera at both
Elis and Argos after 400 B.C. ; but in the forthcoming second edition this
date is modified. The early form of p found on some of the Argive,and the severe style of some of the Elean, coins are strong arguments in
favour of the earlier date adopted by Gardner.
53
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
olive-wreath is the prize at the Olympian games.The archaic form FA(Xeio>) for 'AAeiW remains in
use at this mint down to the end of the autonomous
period.
The alliance, as is well known, collapsed almost
at once. Had the Eleans not possessed a cult of
Hera at Olympia, we should perhaps have expectedthe new type to disappear from their coins as
suddenly as it had come in. As things were, wecan well understand why the type continued in
use at both mints for some time to come.
THE ATHENIAN DISASTER IN SICILY
413 B.C.
29. Obv. YPAI<Ol.n.N Head of the nymphArethusa 1.
; around, four dolphins ;
on the lowest, signature of the artist,
KIMANRev. Quadriga drawn 1. by four prancing horses ;
the charioteer, who holds a goad, is
crowned by Nike flying r. In the
exergue, arranged on steps, a shield,
pair of greaves, cuirass and helmet ;
below AOAA On the upper surface of
the exergual line, faint traces of the
signature KIMANBritish Museum. Silver Attic Decadrachm, 43 '29 grammes. Head,
B. M. C. Sicily, p. 176, No. 201 ; C. A., PL 25, 29 ; A. J. Evans,
Syracusan'
Medallions,' PL ii. 8
We have seen that the first large silver coins
issued in Sicily, the Damareteia, are connected with
54
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the defeat of the Carthaginians at Himera (No. 20).The decadrachm No. 29 is one of a large group of
coins which were likewise issued in connexion with
the next epoch-making victory of the Syracusansover an invading foe. On or about September 16th,
413, the retreating army of Nicias was overwhelmedat the Assinarus. The day of this decisive termina-
tion of the war, the 27th Karneios, was appointed
by the Syracusans to be celebrated annually as a
festival, to which the name Assinaria was given.1
The researches of Evans have established the
fact that the class of decadrachms to which No. 29
belongs was first issued in or shortly after the
Syracusan victory, most probably out of the spoils
of war. And while the chariot on the reverse
symbolises the races which were run at the festival
of the Assinaria, the panoply which stands below it,
labelled '
Prizes,' still more plainly indicates the
rewards which were given to the victors in the
games. Whether the decadrachms themselves
formed part of a money-prize is more doubtful.
The dies for this coin were engraved by the
artist Cimon. We are enabled to identify the
head as that of the nymph Arethusa, whose foun-
tain of sweet water rose, and still rises, on the north
side of the island of Ortygia. For on a famous
tetradrachm by the same artist, representing ob-
viously the same divinity in full face, her name is
inscribed above the head.
The present coin, although issued before the end
of the fifth century, was probably not one of the
1Plut., Nic., 28.
55
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
first of its kind. In particular, one small and rare
group of decadrachrns by Cimon l shows a head of
Arethusa, whose less florid treatment, combined
with a somewhat less skilful technique, points to
its being a little earlier than No. 29. Before the
close of the century another artist, Euaenetus, whohad already distinguished himself at Syracuse in
the period preceding the Athenian expedition, wasset to work on the decadrachms. With an almost
identical reverse he combined a beautiful head of
a goddess generally, but without certainty, called
Persephone.2 The significance of the dolphins has
been explained above (No. 20). The decadrachms
of this kind, some signed by Euaenetus, some
unsigned, seem to have continued to appear from
the mint nearly down to the end of the reign of
Dionysius. Finally, there exists an extraordinarilyrare variety, known from two specimens only.
8
The head approximates to the one created byEuaenetus, but differs in many small but character-
istic details, which justify Mr. Evans in attributingit to an unknown artist of considerable merit.
4
1Evans, op. cit., PI. i. 5.
2Specimens in Evans, op. cit., PI. v. and vi. ; Hill, Coins of Ancient
Sicily, frontispiece 4-6.3Evans, op. cit., PI. iv. (enlargement), and Hill, op. cit., frontispiece 7.
Tl^e supposed signature on the reverse is merely due to a flaw in the die.4 The date which he assigns to it, between Cimon and Euaenetus,
seems to me less certain. The style shows extraordinarily fine technique,
but, so far as inspiration is concerned, the work must rank below the
best of Euaenetus, to the artistic content of which it adds nothing. It
is marked by a certain floridity and restless aiming at effect, which seemrather to indicate a later date ; I would suggest that the engraver wascalled in towards the end of Dionysius' reign to design a new coin, andthat these are the last of the decadrachms. Cp. Le Musee, i. (1904),
pp. 50 f.
56
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
PHARNABAZUS AT CYZICUS
circa 410 B.C.
30. Obv. c{>AP[N]ABA Portrait-head ofPharnabazus
r., bearded, and wearing Persian head-
dress, with the flaps tied under his
chin.
Rev. Prow of war-galley to 1., adorned on the
upper part with a griffin to 1. ; to r. and
1. a dolphin, head downwards ; below,
a tunny 1.
British Museum. Silver Phoenician Stater, 14'68 grammes. W. Wroth,Num. Chr.> 1893, PL i. 11.
The view that this coin, issued by Pharnabazus,bears his own portrait, and not that of the reigning
king of Persia, is now generally accepted. This
fine head stands as one of the earliest examples of
portraiture on a coin ; and its only rivals in pointof date (with one possible exception, of which below)must be sought among coins issued by other non-
Hellenic rulers. Such are the dynasts of Lycia,one of whom (Kariga) struck coins bearing what
appears to be his own portrait some time duringthe last third of the fifth century. On Greek coins
proper, portraiture does not find a place until the
breaking down of civic independence has begunwith the Macedonian period. Even then, the por-traits are at first more or less disguised by assimi-
lation to a divine type, as on the coins of Alexander
the Great. An exception to this rule seems to be
the remarkable electrum stater of Cyzicus, which
57
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
bears the likeness of a bearded, bald-headed person,with a laurel crown (Fig. 4).
1 This coin belongsto the first half of the fourth century.
Many, it is true, deny that the head
is a portrait; but the extraordinarilyrealistic treatment, in no way approach-
Em -suter of ^S t'be representation of any daemoniccyzicus. beings in the art of the time, seems to
point to a human subject. J. P. Six proposed to
identify the person as Timotheus, son of Conon. 2It
seems on the whole safer to refrain from identifica-
tion. The occurrence of a portrait may surprise us
less at Cyzicus when we remember that what we are
accustomed to speak of as the type of these electrum
coins is really a glorification of a differentia, a mint-
mark, or moneyer's symbol. The civic type is the
tunny-fish, the reduction of which to a subordinate
position on this series, just as the seal is reduced
on the electrum sixths of Phocaea, has given scopefor some of the most beautiful designs in the
whole Greek coinage. Many of these designs are
obviously copied from monuments;
for instance,
the group of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and the
two types which between them reproduce the
Cecrops Gaia and Erichthonius group, known to
us from various other works of art.8 A Cyzicene
magistrate, who for some reason was interested in
1 W. Wroth, B. M. C. Mysia, PI. viii. 9 and p. 33, No. 103.
2 Num. Chr., 1898, p. 197.3 These Atticising types may have had a special political significance ;
but the evidence hardly seems to me strong enough for Weil's theorythat Athens had a special arrangement with Cyzicus to supply gold coins
(Zeit.J. Num., xxv. pp. 52 f.).
58
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
an honorary statue erected to some distinguished
person a Timotheus or a Conon might therefore
very well place a copy of the portrait on the coin
which he issued, and do so without offence, since
he was not in any way dishonouring the civic type.This digression has a bearing on the coin of Phar-
nabazus, since in all probability that coin also wasstruck at Cyzicus, at a slightly earlier date than
the electrum stater. The Cyzicenes would thus
have a precedent for issuing a coin bearing a por-trait. The presence of the tunny-fish on the reverse
is strong evidence in favour of the attribution of
this piece to Cyzicus. Babelon has connected it
with the factl that at the time of the campaign of
Alcibiades in the Hellespont Pharnabazus was in
Cyzicus, and was keeping Mindarus well suppliedwith money for his troops.
2 There is less pro-
bability in the suggestion of J. P. Six,3 that these
coins were issued by Conon when in 395 he was
rescued by Pharnabazus from Pharax,who was block-
ading the Athenian admiral at Caunus in Caria.
If the coin of Pharnabazus was struck at Cyzicusin the circumstances mentioned, it need not surpriseus that it is an essentially Greek coin, by a Greek
engraver, and with a Greek inscription. For it wasissued to pay Greek forces and circulate among the
Greek cities of Asia Minor. The same is true of
1 Rev. Num., 1892, pp. 442 f.
3Xen., Hellen., i. 1. 14: Alcibiades says ov yap HCTTIV xprf/JLara W'^i T *J
3 iroXefjilois &(p6ova irapit. |8a<riX^ws ; and 24 : Pharnabazus, after the defeat,
supplies the troops of the slain Mindarus with pay for two months, as
well as with clothing.3 Num. Chr., 1890, p. 256; cp. Wroth, Num. Ghr., 1893, p. 12.
59
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the other satrapal coins issued in these parts. It is
only when we move farther east that we find legends
wholly or partially non-Greek, as on the satrapal
coins issued in Paphlagonia or Cilicia. These
coinages were nearly all purely military issues, and
had to conform to the local necessities of the case.
Just so, in the Abyssinian War of 1868, the British
army was obliged to use Austrian dollars with the
types, legends, and date (1780) of the EmpressMaria Theresia, since they alone would circulate in
the country.
THE FOUNDATION OF RHODES
408 B.C.
31. Obv. Head of Helios, nearly facing, inclined
to r.
Rev. POAION Half-blown rose, with bud on
1. ; to r., an aphlaston (?).
British Museum. Silver Rhodian Tetradrachm, 15' 14 grammes. Head,B. M. C. Caria, p. 232, No. 19, PI. xxxvi. 7 ; cp. pp. cii f.
The three cities of Lindus, lalysus and Camirus
joined together to found the famous city of Rhodesin 408 B.C. They had previously struck coins in
their own names, although Camirus and Lindus
may have ceased to issue money for some little time
before the synoecism.1 One of the first measures
taken was to inaugurate a new and splendid1 About the time of the Sicilian expedition, the Athenians decreed
restrictions on the coinage of the allies (see R. Weil, Z. f. N., xxv.
pp. 52 f.) possibly not for the first time. It may have been in accordance
with some such decree that the mints of these two cities became idle.
60
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
coinage. For obverse type the Rhodians chose the
head of the sun-god, the chief deity of the island,
boldly represented as it were ' in his noonday glory,with rounded face and ample locks of hair blown
back as if by a strong wind, and thus delicately
suggesting his rapid course.'l The type has not,
it is true, the delicacy of the best facing heads on
the coins of Syracuse or Amphipolis, nor the robust
vigour of the head of Hermes at Aenus ; but it
has an attractiveness of its own which makes the
coin on which it is found one of the most popularin the Greek series. For the reverse the Rho-dians adopted a beautiful, very slightly conven-
tionalised, rendering of the rose, at once the canting
badge of the island and a local product.The first coins were issued on the Attic standard,
which is also found about the same time at Samos.
But the Rhodian coins of this weight are rare, anda new standard, hereafter known as the Rhodian,soon came into use. The tetradrachm weighs from
15 '5 5 to 14*90 grammes, and the system thus seems
to be nearly identical with that of Chios.2 Soon after
its inauguration, we find the standard in widelydifferent parts of Greece. As we shall see, certain
coins issued by Byzantium early in the fourth
century conform to it. For this there were
political reasons ; but probably the use of the
standard, or of one closely approximating to it, at
such a city as Aenus in Thrace was due to purelycommercial causes. One of the chief courses of
Rhodian trade seems to have been toward the east,1Head, B. M. C. Caria, p. ciii.
2Head, op. oil., p. civ.
61
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
so that we are not surprised to find the standard
in Cyprus and, for a short time, in Egypt. Thecoins had a very wide currency, and some of the
later silver was actually in circulation in 71 A. D., for
an inscription of that date tariffs Rhodian drachms
at 10 assaria, or f of the denarius. 1 And they have
always been plentiful in the Levant ; which ac-
counts for the curious fact that, out of the fifteen
or twenty coins which are known to have been
preserved in various Christian churches as relics of
the Betrayal of Christ (' Judas-Pennies '),at least
eight were Rhodian coins of the fourth century B.C.2
ANTI-SPARTAN LEAGUE AFTER THE BATTLE OF
CNIDUS (394-389 B.C.)
32. Obv. 21YN Infant Heracles, kneeling, strang-
ling a snake in either hand; around his
body, crepundia.Rev. E4> Bee
; beneath, PE
British Museum. Silver Rhodian Tridrachm, 1 1-44 grammes. W. H.
Waddington, Rev. Num., 1863, p. 224 ; Head, B. M. C. Ionia, PI. ix.
6; C. A.,?\. 19, 29; Regling, Z.f. N., xxv. p. 210.
33. Obv. Similar to preceding.Rev. A Lion's scalp.
British Museum. Silver Rhodian Tridrachm, 11 -55 grammes.
Waddington, op. cit., p. 223; P. Gardner, Samoa and Samian
Coins, PI. iii. 1. ; Head, B. M. C. Ionia, PI. xxxv. 13; C. A., PI. 19,
28. Regling, loc. cif.
These two coins, the first of Ephesus, the second
1 C. I. G., 4380o.a For this curious chapter in the history of relics, I must refer to my
article' The Thirty Pieces of Silver,' in Archceologia, lix.
62
HISTOKICAL GREEK COINS
of Sambs, belong to a small group which also
includes coins of Cnidus, lasos, Rhodes and Byzan-tium. From their style these pieces must be
judged to belong to the beginning of the fourth
century ; and they furnish undoubted evidence of
the combination of these cities in a league. The
only political circumstances suitable for such a
coinage in the early fourth century are found in
the period immediately succeeding Conon's victoryat Cnidus, when there was a general uprising
against Sparta.1
The issue of Cnidus is distinguished by the head
of the Cnidian Aphrodite, and the inscription
KNIAIAN ; at lasos we have the head of Apollo and
IA ; at Rhodes, a rose and PO ; at Byzantium, a bull
standing on a dolphin and Y'V (Bu).2 All agree in
having as their common type the infant Heracles
strangling the snakes, in the inscription 2!YN(/i,a^t-
KOV),S and in the weight, which is that of three
drachms of the Bhodian standard. In addition to
these coins with YN, the same type makes its ap-
pearance at about the same time at Thebes,4Croton,
5
1 The historical significance of this group of coins was first pointed out
by Waddington. On the date of the league, see F. H. Marshall, Second
Athenian Confederacy, p. 3, note 2.
2Head, B. M. C. Caria, PI. xiv. 9 (Cnidus) and PI. xlv. 2 (Rhodes) ;
Imhoof-Blumer, Mown. Or., PI. F. 6 (lasos). My attention was called
by Dr. H. von Fritze to the hitherto unknown Byzantine coin, which has
since been exhaustively dealt with by Dr. Regling (loc. cit.).
3Cp. STMMAXIKON on the Sicilian coins issued at the time of the
alliance against the Carthaginians organised by Timoleon (No. 49).4 Silver didrachms, and electrum hemidrachms and obols, of the
Aeginetic standard : Head, Coinage of Boeotia, PI. iii. 10, 11, 14, 15.
6 Silver staters and diobols of the Italic standard : Gardner, Types,PI. v. 10, 16.
63
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Lampsacus,1 and Cyzicus.
2 At Zacynthus, too,
we have a somewhat similar type ; but it has
been pointed out that there the boy seems to be
not strangling but caressing one of the snakes. 3
Possibly he is a young health-god. And on all coins
of the latter group the inscription YN is lacking.We cannot therefore regard them as evidence that
Thebes, Croton, Lampsacus, and Cyzicus, muchless Zacynthus, belonged to the league. Neverthe-
less, the Theban coins are of importance in this
connexion. For the type does not now appear at
Thebes for the first time ;it is to be found as early
as the period succeeding the battle of Coroneia
in the fifth century. It seems reasonable therefore
to assume that the type in itself eminently suit-
able to a movement towards freedom was bor-
rowed by the league from Thebes. It has indeed
been suggested that the very weight of these coins
(11 '6 7 grammes normal) was an approximation to
the Aeginetic standard prevalent in Boeotia. Butthe Theban coins of this period rarely fall as low
as the maximum weight of a Rhodian tridrachm.
The approximation is closer to the silver stater of
the BabyIonic or Persic standard, which prevailed
along the southern coast of Asia Minor at this
time. And our knowledge of the relations between
the anti-Spartan Greeks and Persia enables us to
understand why Rhodes and her allies issued moneyon a standard suited to districts under Persian
1 Gold staters : Gardner, Types, PI. xvi. 8.
2 Electrum staters and sixths : Greenwell, Mectmm Coinage ofCyzicua
(Num. Chr., 1887), PI. iii. 14. Here Iphicles is introduced.
SeeZ./ N., xviii. p. 197.
64
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
rule, and lying in the path of Rhodian trade with
the eastern Mediterranean.
Although it is hardly possible to accept Holm's
explanation of the weight of our coins, and of the
origin of the Rhodian standard in general, his acute
note on the questions suggested by this federal
issue should be carefully studied.1 He points out
that Thebes was able to issue electrum coins a
metal almost confined to Asia Minor because it
commanded a supply of Persian gold, and that
gold was brought to Thebes by the Rhodian
Timocrates.
The accession of Byzantium to the league, to
which the coin mentioned above testifies, must be
connected with the fact that, some time after the
battle of Cnidus, Thrasybulus ended the Spartan
rule, and re-established democracy there.2 As this
can hardly have been before 389 B.C.,3 the league
probably lasted on until the Peace of Antalcidas.
Of the other cities, on whose coins the snake-
strangling Heracles is found, Croton may have
first employed it when, about 390 B.C., she beganto organise opposition against Dionysius. But for
the variation in the type at Zacynthus, we should
have connected it with the adhesion of the Zacyn-thian democracy to the Second Athenian Con-
federacy.4 There remain the coins of Lampsacus
and Cyzicus. We have already seen 5 that the
types of the Cyzicene coinage cannot be interpreted
1 Griech. Oesch., iii. pp. 54 f.2Xenophon, Hellen., iv. 8. 27.
3 See Regling, pp. 207, 214. 4Hicks, Or. Hist. Insert, p. 198.
5 P. 58.
E 65
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
in the usual way ; and similarly, at Lampsacus, the
design on the obverse of the coins is not the civic
type or badge, but varies with each issue. It is
possible that these states may have expressed their
sympathy with the anti-Spartan league by adoptingthis significant type for one issue. But, specula-tion being put aside, the fact remains that the
coins with this type and the inscription YN reveal
the existence of a federation which all extant literary
authorities pass over in complete silence.
THE OLYNTHIAN LEAGUE
circa 392-379 B.C.
34. Obv. Head of Apollo r., laureate.
Rev. XAAMAEAN Lyre (kithara) with seven
strings.
British Museum. Silver Phoenician Stater, 14 '35 grammes. W. Wroth,Num. Chron., 1897, p. 8, and PL iii. 1.
The great variety of dies representing, as
Wroth has shown, at least four principal styles
used for the large series of coins of the Chalcidians
of Thrace, shows that these issues must have ex-
tended over a considerable period of time. Twelve
or thirteen years are hardly sufficient to account
for the great and varied output of which the extant
specimens are evidence. Some of the smaller
denominations seem 1 to be rather earlier in style
than any of the tetradrachms, and it is possible,
therefore, that they may have been issued before
1 As Professor Oman first pointed out to me.
66
PLATE IV
Nos. 2935.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the superior limit usually assigned to this coinage.
Some of the staters, again, we should hardly be
wrong in supposing to have been struck after the
fall of Olynthus in 379, and before its destruction
at the hands of Philip in 348. But the presentcoin we need not hesitate, judging by its style, to
date within the shorter period.
These coins call for little remark apart from the
great beauty of the designs on both sides, and the
evidence which they bear to the wealth and impor-tance of the Olynthian league. It may, however, be
noted that the representation of the kithara, owingto its excellence of detail, is one of the most valu-
able guides to the reconstruction of that particular
form of lyre. A curious freak of the engraver is to
be noticed on some specimens, where the lines of
the lyre distinctly suggest a grotesque humanface.
1
DEMONICUS, KING OF CITIUM
388-387 B.C.
35. Obv, Athena standing 1., r. resting on spear,
shield on her 1. arm ; in the field a
symbol resembling the Egyptian ankh.
Rev. Phoenician inscr.'
belonging to the KingDemo[ni]kos.' Heracles, with lion's
skin fastened round his neck, striding
r., holding bow in outstretched 1., club
in r.
1 Some coins of Acragas show a similar treatment of the shell of the
crab.
67
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Silver Persic Stater, 10'95 grammes.Babelon, Perse* Achem^nides, p. cxxxii; Hill, B. M. C. Cyprus,
p. xxxix a.
The solution of the problems involved in the
group of coins to which No. 35 belongs is mainly dueto the researches of Babelon. The person whosename is recorded on this coin is that Demonicus,son of Hipponicus, to whom the first oration of
Isocrates is addressed. Late literary authorities
connect him with Cyprus : one says that he was a
Cypriote, another that he was son of Euagoras,
king of Salamis (possibly he was his son-in-law) ;
a third that he was king of Cyprus. Now there
exists a small group of coins, some uninscribed,
others with Phoenician inscriptions, one with the
Greek inscription BA(cnXt>9) AH, and all with typessimilar to those of No. 35. Of the Cypriote
origin of the coins, and of their date (in the first
half of the fourth century), there is no doubt;and
the type of the reverse enables us to attribute
them to the mint of the Phoenician city of Citium.
For this Heracles treated, it is true, in a muchless free style is the regular type of the Citian
coins of the fifth and fourth centuries. The Athena
of the obverse, on the other hand, seems to repro-
duce .the Athena Promachos of Pheidias. Here
then, in the Greek inscription (note that the Hshows the dialect to be not Cypriote, but Ionic
or Attic), in the free rendering of the figure of
Heracles, and in the Attic type of Athena, are
indications of an interruption of the ordinary course
of the strictly Phoenician coinage of Citium byan intrusive Attic element. And the Phoenician
68
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
inscription on No. 35, written at greater lengththan on any of the other coins, gives us the king's
name. The omission of the nun must be put downto the unfamiliarity of the engraver with this
Greek name in its Phoenician transliteration.
During a brief period in the first half of the
fourth century, the Athenian commander Chabrias
controlled Cypriote affairs. It is to this period,
then, that the short reign of .Demonicus must be
assigned. It follows that he was king of Citium
in what was strictly the fifth year of the reign of
Melekiathon, the Phoenician ruler whom he ousted
for the time from his throne. Inscriptions are
extant dated in the second, third, fourth, and sixth
years of Melekiathon ; but there are none known
bearing the date of his fifth year. Is this no more
than a coincidence ?
EPAMINONDAS
circa 379-362 B.C.
36. Obv. Boeotian shield.
Rev. EPA Ml (AM corrected from PA). Krater
with fluted pattern on shoulder ; above,
rosette.
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Stater, 12-21 grammes. B. V. Head,
Coinage ofBoeotia, PI. xii. 2;B. M. C. Central Qreece, PL xv. 4.
Head dates the series of coins to which this
specimen belongs to about 379-338 B.C., the initial
date being given by the expulsion of the Laconising
party from Thebes by Pelopidas, and the evacua-
69
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
tion of the Kadmeia by the Spartan garrison. The
league, which had been dissolved after the peace of
Antalcidas, was now revived in all its strength.A series of coins was issued uniform in type, and
differing only in the name of the person responsibleto the league for the coinage, and in a varying
symbol which usually accompanies the main type.No ethnic adjective is inscribed on the coins, save
in the case of a series issued, according to Head,
by the separatist party at Orchomenus. These
latter are inscribed EPXO, in addition to bearinga magistrate's name. All the others, there can be
no doubt, were issued at the leading city of the
confederation, Thebes.
We note the following names as occurring on
coins of this series:l
'AyXa'Ami . . ., 'ATToX . . ., 'A/3/ca .
Aat/z . . ., Aa/xo/cX . .
Auo *E7ra/u .
Faar .
KXeetr KXetr
Hei/o . . ., 'OXv/u, .
, 'Apt .
HISTOEICAL GREEK COINS
cleidas, Theopompus,1
Ismenias, Androcleidas,2 who
all belong to the same party. Further, among the
Boeotarchs of 366-365 B.C.,3 we find a Tt/i[a/(?)],
and in 364-363 B.C.4
Asopodorus and Diogiton.5
Another important statesman whose name appearson the coins is Euares, known from a Delphian
inscription.6 There is thus considerable probability
that these coins are signed by prominent membersof the Boeotian government ;
and the presumptionamounts almost to a certainty that we have, in No.
36, a coin issued by the authority of the great
Epaminondas himself in one of the years between
379 and 362. It must be admitted as curious that
Pelopidas, who was Boeotarch continuously from
378-364, is not represented on the coins. Possiblythe superintendence of the coinage devolved on the
holder of some particular office in the college of
Boeotarchs, an office which Pelopidas may never
have filled.
The Boeotian shield (which derives its shapefrom the Mycenaean
7
) is the commonest of all
Boeotian coin-types. The krater on the reverse is
also common in this district of Greece. It is
evidently meant to be of metal, and is of the form
1 The coin with Qeoir (not a misreading of Oeoy) is published byProkesch-Osten, Inedita, 1859, p. 16.
2Plut., Pelop., 6-8.
8/.(?., vii. 2407 ; Dittenberger, Syll.
y, 99. The restoration is uncertain ;
Pococke's wretched copy, on which the text depends, has TIMOM>'
Possibly Pococke's OIONOS represents ILoQluvos.
* /. G., vii. 2408 ; Michel, Peeueil, 218.5 A Diogiton was also in command of the Theban army in the
campaign in which Alexander of Pherae was crushed (Plut., Pelop., 35).
6 See B. G. H., 1896, p. 551, and 1898, p. 577.
7 A. J. Evans, Journ. Hellen. Stud., xiii. (1893), p. 214.
71
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
most affected in the fourth century, with highvoluted handles. On some of the coins of the class
with which we are concerned, it is decorated with
ivy-leaves. It is reasonable then to regard the
krater as representative of the Theban Dionysus,whose head appears on some fine Theban coins of
an earlier date than ours.
THE NEW ARCADIAN LEAGUE
370 B.C.
37. Obv. Head of Zeus 1. laureate.
Rev. APK in monogram. Pan, nude, human
except for horns, seated 1. on rock on
which is spread his cloak ;he holds in r.
a throwing-stick (lagobolon) ;at his feet,
syrinx ;on the rock, OAY (name of
magistrate or engraver).
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Stater, 12'34 grammes. P. Gardner,B. M. C. Peloponnesus, pp. lix f., p. 173, No. 48. (The reverse is
illustrated from a specimen in Sir H. Weber's Collection. See
Burlington Fine Art* Club, Exhibition of Greek Art, 1903, pi. cv.
374).
The earliest coins which bear an inscription
patently connecting them with Megalopolis (MET)
belong to the third century B.C. Nevertheless it
is clear that the large series of fourth-century coins
of the league established by Epaminondas, in-
scribed with the monogram of the first three letters
of 'ApKaSiKov, must have been, at any rate for the
most part, struck at Megalopolis. The style of the
earliest is consistent with their having been issued
72
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
about the time of the establishment of the league.
They are not Megalopolitan but federal coins, and
therefore do not bear the name of the city, anymore than their predecessors in the fifth century,
inscribed AP1<AAII<ON (or some other form of the
same word), bore any indication of mint-place. But
the mint of the league was presumably at its poli-
tical centre.
The types the Zeus and Pan of Mount Lycaeusare essentially Arcadian, and among the most
beautiful that have come down to us. The head
of Zeus in particular should be compared with that
of '
Asklepios'
from Melos in the British Museum. 1
The marble, in the treatment of the hair of the
head and beard and the general expression, repre-
sents exactly the same type as the coin. As the
earliest coins cannot be much later than 360 B.C.,
they give us a terminus ante quern for the creation
of this type in sculpture. They also show that
there is something to be said in favour of calling
the marble head Zeus rather than Asklepios.
THE ACHAEAN LEAGUE
circa 367-362 B.C.
38. Obv. Female head 1., wearing earring with
pendants; hair taken up and tied in
knot at top of the head.
Rev. AXA IAN Zeus enthroned 1., holding on
extended r. an eagle, resting with 1. on
1 E. A. Gardner, Greek Sculpture, p. 417.
73
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
sceptre ;in the field 1. a crested helmet
(slightly double-struck).
British Museum. Unique. Silver Aeginetic Stater, 12 grammes.W. Wroth, Num. Chr., 1902, pp. 12 f. PI. xvi. 4.
On his third expedition to Peloponnesus (367
B.C.), Epaminondas forced the Achaeans to admit
the Theban hegemony. He was judicious enoughto respect the aristocratic constitution of the cities.
But it was not long before the extreme democratic
party in Thebes, egged on by the Arcadians, pro-cured the despatch to the Achaean cities of Theban
harmosts, who expelled the aristocrats and estab-
lished democracies everywhere. The new regimewas, however, short-lived. The exiles found their
way back, and Achaea went over to the anti-Theban
side. Soon afterwards the majority of the Arcadians
themselves broke with Thebes. Thus at the time
of the battle of Mantineia we find the Achaeans
associated with the Arcadians, Eleans, and Phlei-
asians in an alliance with Athens. 1
To this period of close association with the
Arcadians we are justified in ascribing the uniquestater described above. In style it at once recalls
the fine large coins struck by Arcadian cities such
as Pheneus and Stymphalus, by the Arcadian
KOLVOV at Megalopolis (above, No. 37), and byMessene, shortly after the battle of Leuctra. Apartfrom the general stylistic resemblance, note such
a coincidence as the peculiar shape of earring
1 The inscription of the year of Molon (362-361) probably records an
alliance made after the battle in practically the same terms as the agree-
ment which had preceded it. See Hicks, Ok. Hist. Inter.2, 119.
74
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
common to the Achaean coin with those of Stym-
phalus.Before the discovery of this didrachm, the smaller
denominations of the same group (on which the
peculiarities of style were less patent) were attri-
buted to Achaea Phthiotis in Thessaly. The reasons
for that attribution seemed sound ; but they have
all been upset by this didrachm, the Peloponnesiancharacter of which is beyond all doubt.
Aegium was the chief city of the Achaean League,the meetings being held in the grove of Amarium,under the protection of Zeus Amarios and Athena
Amaria. It is probable, therefore, as Wroth sug-
gests, that this coin was struck at Aegium, and
that the Zeus of the reverse is Zeus Amarios, who
appears on the coins of the later league. There is
nothing that enables us to identify the goddess or
nymph who is depicted with so much originality
and grace on the obverse. Possibly the figure of
Athena charging with spear and shield, which is
found on the smaller denominations, representsAthena Amaria. A somewhat similar Athena
is found on the coins of Patrae of the period146-132 B.C.
1 The helmet on the reverse of our
stater is probably a mint -mark or moneyer's
symbol.1 B. M. C. Peloponnesus, p. 23, PL v. 8.
75
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
THE ARCADIANS OCCUPY OLYMPIA
365-364 B.C.
39. Obv. Head of Zeus, laureate.
Rev. PI A Three half-thunderbolts.
Berlin Museum. Gold Trihemiobol, 1 '55 grammes. P. Gardner, Num.
Chr., 1879, p. 247 f., PL xiv. 7 ; Weil, Z.f. N., xxii. p. 10.
40. Obv. FAAEION Head of Zeus L, laureate.
Rev. OAYMPIA Head of Olympia r., hair in
sling.
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Stater, 10 -34 grammes. P. Gardner,
B. M. C. Peloponnesus, p. 66, No. 71, and p. xxxvii.
The only coins with the name of Pisa, the little
community which had once enjoyed the right of
conducting the Olympian games, but had been
destroyed by the Eleans, are small gold pieces of
1 obols (as No. 39) and 1 obol. In style they
belong to the first half of the fourth century. There
can be little doubt, therefore, that they were struck
during the brief period of the revival of the rights
of Pisa.1
In 365 the Arcadians seized the festival-place,
and expelled the Eleans ; the presidency for the
104th Olympiad was placed in the hands of the
descendants of the original Pisatans. During the
festival a fight took place in the Altis, in which
the Arcadians, supported by the Argives and
Athenians, held their own against the Eleans.
Peace was restored in 363 B.C.
1Xen., Hetten., vii. 4, 14-35. Another document of this period is the
proxenia-decree of the Pisatans in honour of two Sicyoniang (Hicks,
Ok. Hist. Insert, 115). Cp. also Weil, op. cit., p. 6, n. 1.
7 6
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
These gold coins were probably struck out of the
treasures of the temple, which we know was robbed
for the purpose of paying the troops.1 The obverse
type of both is the head of the Zeus of Olympia ; on
the reverse the obol has a single thunderbolt, the
trihemiobol three half-thunderbolts. The reverse
types are thus made to indicate the denomination
in a rough-and-ready way.To the claim of the Pisatans to issue coins as
presidents of the festival, the Eleans, on their return
to power, seem to have retorted by striking coins
of the kind represented by No. 40. Here, not
for the first time, it is true, but contrary to the
general rule, the ethnic of the Eleans appearsin full. What is more, it is associated with the
head of the chief god of the sanctuary. Andthe placing of the nymph Olympia, legibly labelled,
on the reverse expresses the claim of the Eleans
to dominate the festival-place of which she is the
personification. It should not be forgotten that
the coinage of the Eleans 2 was especially connected
with Olympia, and probably had more of the char-
acter of a temple-coinage than any other consider-
able series known to us. This fact it was sometimes
necessary to state clearly on the coins themselves,
and the present is a case in point. There exists
an earlier coin reading OAYMPIKON, without the
1 As often happens in the history of Greek coinage, where the ordinaryseries is of silver, in time of stress and necessity a gold coinage appears.It gave less trouble to melt down the temple treasures and strike coins
out of the gold than to realise their value in silver.
2 It is not strictly accurate to speak of the coinage of Elis, as if it werea single city state.
77
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
name of the Eleans at all. This must have been
issued at some especially important Olympic festival ;
possibly after the completion of the great temple(between 468 and 456 B.C.),
1for the style of the
coin permits of its being assigned to that period.8
PHILIPS FOUNDATION AT CRENIDES
357 B.C.
41. Obv. Head of young Heracles r., wearing lion's
skin.
Rev. GABION HPEIPO Tripod, adorned with
fillets; above, laurel-branch.
Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale. Gold Stater, 8*5 grammes.
42. Obv. Head of young Heracles r., wearing lion's
skin.
Rev. cHAIPPAN Tripod, adorned with fillets;
above, laurel-branch; in field r., a
Phrygian helmet.
British Museum. Gold Stater, 8*62 grammes. Head, B. M. C.
Macedon, p. 96; (7. A., PI. 21, 13.
The fall of Amphipolis in 357 B.C. and the
alliance with Olynthus made Philip definitely
master of the mining district of Mount Pangaeus,and especially of Crenides. On this spot, a year or
two before, a Thasian colony had settled, possibly1 See Frazer, Pausanias, vol. iii. p. 493.2 On the other hand, OATMIIIKON has been compared with the
APKAAIKON of the early Arcadian coins (B. M. C. Peloponnesus, p. Ivii).
The former, however, is found on an isolated issue, the latter on a largeseries ; the coin with the former seems to represent a special occasion,
those with the latter to be an ordinary currency.
78
HISTOKICAL GREEK COINS
at Philip's own suggestion.1
In any case, Philipnow reinforced the settlement, and renamed it
Philippi.2
The Pangaean gold mines were at their richest
near Crenides, but were not properly exploiteduntil Philip turned his attention to them. The' Thasians of the Mainland
' who struck the coin
No. 41 were without doubt the colonists of 360-359
B.C. When Philip reorganised the settlement, he
issued thence the coins represented by No. 42, with
the types of the old colony, but with the newname. The mines yielded him more than one
thousand talents a year,8 a fact which accounts for
his enormous output of gold staters.4
Very few of
these staters, however, were of the types of No. 42.
Philip found it more in accordance with his policythat his gold coinage should be still more closelyidentified with himself, and hence the vast massof his newly acquired gold was made into royalstaters of the kind described below (No. 43).
Philippi was then no longer allowed to issue coins
in its own name; but its badge, the tripod, is of
1Diod., xvi. 3, 7 (B.C. 360-359); D. G. Hogarth, Philip and Alexander,
p. 48. The Thasians had for a long time possessed settlements on the
mainland. The new foundation appears to have been led by the Athenianorator Callistratus, who is said (Scylax, 68) to have founded a colony at
Daton (he was in exile at the time). The name Daton probably included
the whole district of Crenides and the coast on which stood Neapolis.
Heuzey (Miss, de Macedoine, pp. 35, 62 f.) by this explanation reconciles
the statement of Appian (Bell. Civ. t iv. 105) and Harpocration, that
Philippi was once called Daton, and still earlier Crenides, with Strabo's
account (vii. 331 fr. 36) of Daton as on the coast near the Strymon.2Diod., xvi. 8. 6. 3
Diod., loc. cit.
* 1000 talents= 6,000,000 drachms = 3, 000,000 didrachms or staters.
But we cannot be quite certain that Diodorus is speaking of talents of
gold alone.
79
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
common occurrence as a symbol on the gold coins
of Philip and his successors, showing that, as was
but natural, its mint still remained in operation.
In addition to the gold coins which have been
described, there exist bronze coins of the ' Thasians
of the Mainland' and also silver and bronze coins
of Philippi bearing the same types as the gold.
PHILIP OF MACEDON
359-336 B.C.
43. Obv. Young male head r., laureate.
Rev. 4> |AITTOY Two-horse chariot r. ; in
field, thunderbolt.
British Museum. Gold Attic Stater, 8 '62 grammes. G. F. Hill,
Handbook, PI. vii. 2.
44. Obv. Head of Zeus L, laureate.
Rev. 4>IAIPPOY Youth on horseback r.,
carrying palm-branch ;in field, bee.
British Museum. Silver Phoenician Stater, 14*39 grammes. W.Wroth, Num. Chr., 1894, p. 2, No. 1, PI. i. 1 ; G. F. Hill, /. H. S. t
xvii. p. 79, PL ii. 11.
The circumstances, under which Philip became
able to issue the enormous bulk of coinage repre-
sented here by Nos. 43, 44, are explained in the
preceding section. The gold coins of the type of
No. 43 are the well-known 4>iXur7reioi crrar^/aes or
Xpucroi,nummi Philippei, regale nomisma Philippi
to mention only some of the names by which
they went. 1
1 For a list with references, see F. Hultsch, Or. u. R&m. Metrol.*,
p. 243, note 2.
80
PLATE V.
Nos. 3644.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
These are the first gold coins issued in any
quantity in Greece Proper. Hitherto the most
common gold currency had been the Daric (No. 11),
with which the Cyzicene and Lampsacene staters,
not to mention the few gold coins issued byAthens in her own name, can have maintained but
an unequal competition. Philip's new coin soon
superseded the Daric in the west. The introduc-
tion of a gold coin which would more or less take
the place of the Persian money may or may not
have been part of Philip's grand policy ;
lat any
rate it is noticeable that in the somewhat higher
weight of his gold coins he approximated to the
Attic rather than to the Persian standard. The
enormous quantity of coin issued by him seems to
have sent down the value of gold all over Greece.2
His silver is struck on the ' Phoenician'
standard,
which had been in use in Macedon in the fifth
century, but under Archelaus I. had been replaced
by the *
Babylonian.' It is difficult to see what can
have been his object in reviving this standard,
unless he wished in some way to regulate the ratio
between gold and silver. His gold stater is
divisible into halves, quarters, eighths, and twelfths,
and was probably equivalent to 24 drachms of
silver at 3*62 grammes, or to 6 of his tetradrachms,
the ratio of gold to silver being 10 : I.3
The types of Philip's coins are not, at first sight,
1Hultsch, loc. cit. ; but see Th. Reinach, L'Hist. par les Monnaies,
p. 62.2Reinach, op. cit., pp. 52 f.
3Reinach, op. cit., p. 62. The older explanation, which assumes a
ratio of 12$ : 1, ia shown by Reinach to be improbable.
F 8l
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
very remarkable, but they have been a good deal
discussed. The male head on the gold stater is
probably meant for Apollo. In the case of certain
specimens, where the hair is long,1this interpreta-
tion can hardly be disputed. Other heads, such as
that here illustrated, have by some been called
Ares. 2 But it is unlikely that more than one godshould be intended in the obverse type of this
highly uniform series of coins. And the argumentfor Ares rests solely on a comparison with the head
labelled APEO on coins issued more than half a
century later by the Mamertines in Messana. Nowthat head is copied directly from a head on Syra-cusan coins, which is there called A IO EAAAN IO Y,
and which is itself inspired by the coins of Philip.
The fact is that the type was adopted by the Sicilians
without reference to its original significance. Theywere returning the compliment paid to them by the
Greeks of Thessaly who had copied the head of
Arethusa to represent the nymph Larisa. .
Philip's reverse types merely carry on the tradi-
tion of the Macedonian coinage ;for none of his
predecessors who issued coins at all was able to
dispense with the type of the horse in one form or
another. This is but natural in the land which
produced the Macedonian cavalry. In the case of
Philip the significance of his name makes the types
doubly appropriate. Finally, we have the state-
ment of Plutarch,8 that Philip celebrated his Olym-
pian victory with the chariot by engraving it on
1e.g. Head, C. A., PL 22, 17.
> Gardner, Num. Chr., 1880, p. 52. Alex., 4.
82
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
his coins. Just about the time, also, when he was
first obtaining the metal from his new mines, he
won a victory 177770) /ceX^rt at Olympia, and there
can be little doubt that this event is commemoratedon his silver tetradrachms.
The symbols in the field of Philip's coins in most
cases represent the mint at which they were struck :
thus the thunderbolt is in all probability the badgeof Pella, while the bee indicates Melitaea in
Thessaly. But as a rule the identification of mints
by these symbols is very hazardous.
The coinage of Philip had a great attraction for
the barbarians in the upper parts of the Balkan
Peninsula, and also for the inhabitants of Gaul.
Thanks to this fact, the earliest coinage of Britain
is to be traced back to the gold staters of Philip.
These coins were introduced into Gaul, possibly bythe Massaliotes,
1 and largely imitated there. From
Gaul, the influence passed to Britain. The imita-
tion, when it reaches this stage, bears but a faint
resemblance to the original ; but the intermediate
links make the process fairly clear.
1 There is much to be said for the route up the Danube valley, across
to the Rhine valley, and so into Gaul. But most authorities pronouncefor Massalia as the intermediary (see J. A. Blanchet, Trait6 des Monnaies
gatdoises (1905), pp. 207-225). The evidence as to finds of original
Philippei along the great central trade-route is apparently very deficient ;
and very few originals have been found in Gaul itself.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
DION OF SYRACUSE IN ZACYNTHUS
357 B.C.
45. Obv. Head of Apollo r., laureate.
Rev. A IANO Tripod, between the feet of
which, IABritish Museum. Silver Aeginetio Stater, 11 '23 grammes. P.Gardner,
Num. Chr., 1885, p. 96, and B. M. C. Peloponnesus, p. 97, No. 33.
It was at Zacynthus that Dion assembled the
small but picked body of troops (less than eight
hundred men) with which he made his daring and
successful descent on Sicily. The chief deity of
Zacynthus was Apollo, and to him Dion offered upa magnificent sacrifice, going in procession to the
shrine with all his men in full armour. 1
During his
exile Dion had travelled much in Peloponnesus and
Attica, and made a considerable impression on the
Greeks at home, by his wealth as well as by his
personal qualities. He received the citizenship of
Sparta, he was honoured by Epidaurus, and his
relations with the Academy at Athens are well
known. As he chose Zacynthus for his base, that
city must have granted him special facilities.
Among these was the right to issue a coinage to
pay his troops. The coin before us bears his nameand the letters IA (for Zoxw6itav) t
and its typesare the regular types of the Zacynthian coinage.
2
Had we not known of the connexion of the son of
1Plut., Dion., 23.
3 There are also bronze coins of the same series on which the name is
abbreviated to AI.
84
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Hipparinus with Zacynthus, the Dion of the coin
would have been taken for an ordinary magistrate,like the Anaxippus who signed coins in the period
immediately following. It is improbable, however,
that the son of Hipparinus occupied any constitu-
tional position at Zacynthus. It was as much to
the advantage of the Zacynthians as to his ownthat he should be allowed to convert some of his
silver into coin, of which a large proportion would
be spent in the island. That it was not intended
primarily to be carried in his treasure chest to
Sicily is proved by the standard on which it is
struck. That is the Aeginetic, in use in Zacynthusand Peloponnesus, but not in Sicily. The privilege
of putting his own name on it was balanced by the
use of the regular Zacynthian types and inscription.
None the less, in view of the jealousy with which
each little Greek state guarded its right of coinage,
these coins are eloquent of the great influence
which Dion exercised in the land of his exile.
DION AND TIMOLEON IN SICILY
357-337 B.C.
46. Obv. YPAI<OION Head of Athena r., in
Corinthian helmet.
Rev. Pegasus flying to 1.
British Museum. Silver Corinthian Stater, 8 '48 grammes. Head,B. M. C. Corinth, etc., p. 98, No. 1.
47. Similar to preceding, but YPAI<OIANBritish Museum. Silver Corinthian Stater, 8 '51 grammes. Head,
op. cit., p. 98, No. 2.
85
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
48. Similar to 46 but inscribed AEONTINON, and
with grain of barley behind head.
British Museum. Silver Corinthian Stater, 8'34 grammes. Head,op. cit., p. 98, No. 1.
49. Obv. APXAfETAS: Head of Apollo 1.,laureate.
Rev. YMMAX[IKON] Torch between two
ears of barley.
British Museum. Bronze litra, 30-60 grammes. B.'M. C. NiViVy, p. 28.
No. 2.
We have seen the mark which Dion left on the
coinage of Zacynthus. It is only natural that weshould look for some similar indication of his
presence in Sicily. We do not, it is true, find his
name on the coins ; but there is now a general
agreement in attributing to his time certain
electrum coins with Apolline types, and also certain1
Pegasi' (Nos. 46, 48) or imitations of the ordinaryCorinthian coins, differing from the originals onlyin the legend YPAI<OION or AEONTINON, which
replaces the ? (koppa) of the Corinthian mint. These
coins, like the later'
Pegasi'
reading YPAKOIAN(No. 47) used to be given to Timoleon. Evans,
1
however, pointed out that the tyrant Hicetas, whoruled Leontini for great part of Timoleon's time,
1
was not friendly to the liberator. It is therefore
more probable that this earlier group of '
Pegasi,'
with inscriptions ending in -ON, belongs to Dion's
time.
From the point of view of weight, there was
no difficulty in the introduction of'
Pegasi,' for
1Syracusan
'
Medallion*,' p. 157.
Not throughout; see Holm, Geech. Sic., iii. p. 652.
86
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Leontini and Syracuse had long employed the
Euboic-Attic standard, in which the didrachm
corresponded to the Corinthian stater ;and ordinary
Corinthian '
Pegasi'
must have long been circulat-
ing in Sicily
Among the types which owe their origin to
Timoleon, first in importance is the head of Zeus
Eleutherios. It is found at Syracuse, at Halaesa,
at Aetna, and at Agyrium. The horse unbridled
which occurs on coins of this time may also be a
symbol of liberty ;but it is already found in the
preceding period at Syracuse.A considerable number of minor Sicilian cities,
as Head has noticed,1
began to issue coins for the
first time under the auspices of Timoleon. No. 49
is one of a group of bronze coins which agree in
the legend VMMAXIKON (scil i/o/zurjua). Other
varieties have a head of Sikelia, the nymph per-
sonifying the island, or of Apollo Archagetason the obverse, with the same reverse type as
No. 49, or a thunderbolt and grapes. But these
are all without the name of the people in whose
city they were issued. Others again have the
legend KAINON (scil. i>o/uo7*a), with other types
and no mint-name. Some, but not necessarily
all, of these varieties were issued from Halaesa.
For some of them the type of Apollo Archagetas
suggests Tauromenium as the mint. But the coins
are perhaps the more interesting for the lack of the
mint-name, in that they illustrate all the better
the formation of the anti-Carthaginian confederacy1
e.g. in Hist. Num. 1, p. 101.
8?
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
by which Timoleon sought to guarantee the safetyof the cities.
Another feature of the coinage of this time is
found in the fact that large bronze coins maketheir first appearance in the Sicilian towns which
came within the sphere of Timoleon's influence. In
the interior of Sicily, as in central Italy, bronze was
evidently of far greater importance as a medium of
exchange than in the more completely Hellenised
parts of the Mediterranean. Where bronze hitherto
had been issued by Greek cities, it was only in the
form of a token coinage, with an artificial value.
But to appeal to the people whom Timoleon now
organised into a confederacy under the leader-
ship of Syracuse, a confederacy which was to be
strengthened by increasingly intimate commercial
ties, it was necessary to issue coins which would
not shock the ideas of people accustomed to re-
gard bronze as a precious metal. And if Halaesa,
Centuripae, etc., issued these large coins, it was
necessary that Syracuse should also issue them. 1
The arrangement arrived at was, however, a com-
promise, since these new coins, substantial as they
were, probably represented a value somewhat
greater than their weight.2 The civilised Greeks
1 Holm (Oench. Sic., iii. p. 620, No. 137), whom I have elsewhere
followed (Coins of Ancient Sicily), places the issue of the large Syracusanlitra earlier. Many of the litrae of other Sicilian cities are struck on
these Syracusan litrae ; on the reverse of No. 49 it is easily possible to
discern the dolphins of the original type ; but such over-strikings mightoccur very soon after the issue of the Syracusan coins, if the cities in the
interior found themselves short of bronze in any other form, or wished
to avoid the trouble of casting new blanks.2 Head, loc. cit.
88
HISTOKICAL GKEEK COINS
would never have accepted coins of the unwieldysize which satisfied the honest Romans of the
time.
THE SACRED WAR
356-346 B.C.
50. Obv. Bull's head facing, bound with fillets
hanging from horns.
Rev. ONY|MAP]XOY in laurel-wreath.
Fig. 5. Berlin Museum. Bronze. Cp.'Head, B. M. C. Central Greece,
pp. xxvii and 23, No. 103 ; PI. iii. 24.
FIG. 5. No. 50. FIG. 6. No. 51.
51. Obv. Similar to No. 50.
Rev. 4>A|AAI|I<OY in laurel-wreath.
Fig. 6. Berlin Museum. Bronze. Cp. Head, op. cit. t pp. xxvii and
23, No. 104.
52. Obv. Head of Deineter 1. wearing veil and
wreath of barley-leaves.Rev. AMWT ION/IN Apollo, wearing long-
sleeved chiton, seated 1. on omphaloscovered with network of fillets
;he rests
his chin on his r. hand, his r. elbow on
a large kithara beside him ; in his 1. is
a long laurel branch resting on his
shoulder;in the field, to 1.
,a tripod.
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Stater, 12-14 grammes. Head,
op. cit., pp. xxxiii, 27, No. 22, PL iv. 13 ; Imhoof-Blumer and
Gardner, Num. Comm. on Pans., p. 122, PI. Y. viii.
89
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
About the dating of these coins there can be
little divergence of opinion. The two bronze coina
bear the names of two strategi of the Phocians
during the Sacred War. Philomelus, as we know,did not at first touch the temple-treasures. But he
was eventually driven to borrow not for the first
time in Greek history from the sacred treasury.His successor, Onymarchus called Onomarchus
by most, if not all, ancient literary authorities
was even less scrupulous or more pressed, and
from the first levied contributions on the shrine.
He is said to have struck gold and silver coins.1
Enormous quantities of treasure were melted down ;
but no such thing as a Phocian gold coin is extant,
nor is there anything of this period in the way of
silver except small coins. We know, it is true,
that a considerable quantity of the coins were
melted down by pious Locrians after the war, and
returned to the sanctuary in the form of a hydria,2
but this is hardly enough to explain the entire
disappearance of the gold coins. Nor can it be
explained by the drain out of the Phocian territory
to which this currency would naturally be subjectin these troublous times
;for there is no reason
why these coins should not be lost and found in
neighbouring districts. That Onymarchus melted
down gold objects we have the best of reasons for
believing; that he struck gold coins is not so
certain, though a gold coin may be turned up
any day to banish our doubts. The authority of
1Diod., xvi. 33.2, 56.6.
2Plut., de Pyth. orac., 16, p. 401 F.
90
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Diodorus on a detail of this sort is not good ;and
the fact that much of the treasure was of gold no
more proves that gold coins were struck, than the
similar circumstances in the case of Damarete's
crown (see above No. 20) prove that the Dama-reteia were gold coins. The small Phocian silver
coins, on the other hand, are common and were
evidently struck in large quantities, but they do
not bear the names ofany of the strategi.
The fact that Onymarchus and Phalaecus l
placedtheir names on the coins has been reckoned as an
item in the charges against them. 2 A tyrant like
Alexander of Pherae had recently done the same ;
but the position of these strategi was constitution-
ally more similar to that of the Boeotarchs of the
Boeotian league. Yet no one sees a sign of despot-ism in the fact that Boeotian coins bear the names
of Boeotarchs.
If Onymarchus or his successors placed their
names on silver as well as on bronze coins, the
former have not survived. Probably the generalsdid not go so far. Here again, it is unlikely that
some of the large quantity of coins which must
have been issued should not have escaped the piouszeal of the Locrians. Too much has perhaps been
made of this single fact related of the Locrians,
and we have no reason to suppose that their
example was very generally followed.
The style of the fine stater (No. 52) is entirely in
favour of the general opinion which attributes it to
1Phayllus seems to have abstained in this respect.
2e.g. by Beloch, Or. Geach., ii. p. 324.
91
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the close of the Sacred War. It was struck, as the
inscription shows, by the Amphictionic Council.
Some doubts have been expressed as to whether it
was issued at Delphi, and not rather at one of
the alternative meetings held by the Council at
Thermopylae. The large size of the coin, which
is unprecedented in the general Phocian series
(although in the fifth century Delphi coined a
certain number of large pieces), may seem to pointto the Thermopylaean meeting as the more likely
occasion of issue. But we must remember that the
great Pythian festival which was celebrated in 346,
with Philip as president, was an event of extra-
ordinary importance to all the Greeks who cared
for the honour of the Delphian sanctuary. That
the Amphictionic Council should strike splendidcoins to commemorate their recovery of the shrine
from the robbers who had so long possessed it, was
highly fitting; that, on the other hand, theyshould issue these novel pieces at one of the
meetings at Thermopylae, to which no unusual
importance attached, would be inexplicable. Thehead of the Demeter of Anthela on the obverse of
this coin l has been taken to point to the Thermo-
pylaean mint. But the Apollo of the reverse
points as clearly the other way. Wherever the
Amphictionic coins were issued, it would be properfor them to bear the types of the two deities under
whose protection the Council met.
Of the types of the coins which we have dis-1 As on the small silver coins with the same inscription (Rev. Num.,
1860, PI. xii. 8; Head, op. cit., p. xxxiii.). The reverse type is an
omphalos with serpent twined round it.
92
PLATE VI.
Nos. 45-53-
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
cussed there is little more to say. The head of the
bull is decorated with fillets as though for sacrifice.
As we know that kine were sacrificed to Apollowith Leto and Artemis at Delphi
1 and elsewhere,
there is no reason why this type should not repre-
sent one of the victims. On the stater of the
Council, Demeter is represented in her usual
guise, veiled and crowned with barley-leaves, as
the grain-giving earth-mother. Apollo has all his
attributes : his omphalos and tripod as the oracular
god of Delphi, his purifying laurel-branch, his lyre
and citharoedic dress as god of music.
PHILIP II. AND THESSALY
353-343 B.C.
53. Obv. Head of the nymph Larisa, nearly facing,
inclined to r., hair confined by a fillet
seen over her forehead.
Rev. AAPI Horse grazing to r.; below its
belly, in small letters, 211 MO
British Museum. Silver Aeginetic Drachm, 6 '03 grammes. P. Gardner,B. M. C. Thessaly, etc. pp. xxv and 31, No. 77, PI. vi. 9.
The coins struck at Larisa in Thessaly with the
name of Simus have been brought by Gardner into
relation with the history of Thessaly during the
Sacred War. We know from Harpocration2 that
1 B. C. H.> v. (1881) p. 164: OvtvTU S ol eirtMeXijrai /3oi/s rc\fl[ovs
rp]fu oOs /co, ol ToXirtu duvri TUI'
AiriXXwia ical [TCU, A[aro]t /cai rai'
K.T.X.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Simus was one of the Aleuadae who were re-
garded as partisans of the Macedonian, and from
Demosthenes lthat he was thrown over by Philip
as soon as the king had subjected Thessaly to
Macedonian rule : JHCX/H TOVTOV [EvSi/cos /ecu]
iSt/AOS 6 Aapiomo? (scil. <f>l\o<s aij/o/xaero) liws cr-
TaXtcu> VTTO OtXiTTTrw 7TOLir)o~ev. Under EvSi/cos
Harpocration has : Arj/Mocr^ei/Tjs o/ T&> virep
KT7)(TL<f>a)VTO<S. 6*9 S'eCTTtV OUTO9 TO)V KCLTCKTraQcVTCtlV
VTTO ^>tXtV7rou Kvpitov @CTTaXia9 ctTTCicn;?. From this
we see that the name of Eudicus occurred in the
manuscript of Demosthenes used by Harpocrationor his source. If it was interpolated, the inter-
polation must be a fairly old one.2 On the other
hand, an interpolator would not have allowed the
grammatical false concord to stand. Possiblythe singular eVofycrev is due to the two singularswhich precede it, and we should read : fiexpi
TOVTOV EvSt/cos [6*
] /cat St/xos 6 A. la>9 . . .
7roir)cr(a)v. We do not know that Eudicus was a
Larisaean.
We have now to consider in what capacity Simus
placed his name on the coin. The name is not veryrare ;
8 nevertheless we need not hesitate to acceptGardner's identification of the Simus of the coin
with the Aleuad. The question is whether he
issued the coins as a *
tyrant'
on his own account,
or as one of Philip's governors. Philip at one time
divided Thessaly into tetrarchies. Most modern1 De Cor., 48 (p. 241).3Harpocration 's date is perhaps the second century after Christ, but
may be aa late aa the fourth.* See the eutriea in Pape-Beuaeler, Wtirterb. d. gr. Eigennamtn.
94
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
writers assume that this was done after the second
expedition into Thessaly, when the '
tyrants'
were
expelled, and the Macedonian power firmly estab-
lished in the country.1 Demosthenes speaks of the
new tetrarchal organisation of the country in 344-343
and two years afterwards, in a tone which he would
hardly have employed had it been ten years old.2
We may take it therefore that the current view as
to the date of the new organisation is correct. If,
as Gardner supposes, Simus issued the coins as one
of Philip's tetrarchs and by his permission, we maybe surprised that none of the three other tetrarchs,
who doubtless enjoyed the same privileges, is
known to have issued coins with his own name.
The coins therefore would seem to belong to the
period before the organisation of the tetrarchy.
Simus, and the others who had invited Philip into
Thessaly, such as Eudicus and Thrasydaeus,3 were
made '
tyrants'
over their fellow-countrymen under
Philip's protection ;and when Philip had done
with them, after his second expedition, he cast
them off. This was the expulsion of the tyrants of
which Diodorus speaks; and the statements of
Demosthenes and Harpocration accord perfectly
well on this hypothesis. The position of the'
tyrants,' in the comparatively informal arrange-ment which subsisted between Philip's two expedi-
tions, need not have been quite the same in all
1Diod., xvi. 69.8 (344-343 B.C.).
2 Phil. ,ii. 22, iii. 26. In the former passage Reiske has shown that
SeKadapxiav should be rerpapxlav (see Beloch's note, Or. Oesch,, ii.
pp. 532-3).3Theopomp., fr. 235 (F. H. (?., i. 317) in Athen., vi. 249 C.
95
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
cities of Thessaly ; hence it is that, while the coins
name Simus of Larisa, they are silent as to the
others.
The new organisation of Thessaly, after the fall
of the tyrants, brought about a great change in the
coinage of the Thessalian cities. Philip's own newcoins were now issued at various Thessalian mints,
and this system was continued by Alexander the
Great. Consequently there was no longer any
necessity for the silver, or perhaps even for the
bronze, autonomous coinage of the Thessalian cities.
There was a resumption of autonomous coinage bysome mints in the time of Demetrius Poliorcetes.
But silver soon disappeared again from the Thes-
salian currency, not to return, except in the brief
period 196-146 B.C., when it was issued by the
tribal unions of the '
Thessalians/ Aenianes,
Magnetes, and Oetaeans.
The date to which, on the grounds above stated,
it seems best to assign the coins of Simus is the
date already determined by Gardner; the diverg-ence from his view lies in the hypothesis that
Simus, when he issued coins with his own name,
was, although in a position of unusual influence,
not necessarily tetrarch, but tyrant on the condi-
tions prevailing between 353 and 343 B.C. Fewwill hesitate to agree with Gardner's further
suggestion that the interesting coins with a head
of AAEYas, the founder of the great family to
which Simus belonged, must be attributed to this
tyrant's time.
The head of the nymph Larisa, represented
96
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
nearly facing, is derived from a famous Syracusan
coin-type, the head of Arethusa by the great
engraver Cimon. The horse of the reverse is the
most characteristic of Larisaean coin-types, the
Thessalian cavalry horse, evidently one of the small
sturdy animals of the kind represented in the pro-cession of the riders on the Parthenon frieze, and
still to be seen in Greece. 1
MAZAEUS, GOVERNOR OF NORTHERN SYRIA
AND CILICIA
350-333 B.C.
54. Obv. Baaltarz (in Aramaic). Baaltars seated
1., wearing himation and holding lotos-
headed sceptre ; in the field 1. an ear of
barley, bunch of grapes, and Aramaic
letter n ;under the seat, m.
Rev. Mazdai, who is over Ebernahara andChilik (in Aramaic). Two lines of wall,
one behind the other, each with four
towers ; above, lion slaying a bull.
British Museum. Silver Persic Stater, 11 '09 grammes. Hill, B. M. C.
Lycaonia, etc., PI. xxx. 9.
55. Obv. Similar to No. 54, but without bunch of
grapes or Aramaic single letters ; under
the seat, I (for Issus).
1 Macdonald (Coin Types, pp. 98 f.) makes the interesting suggestionthat the horse on the earlier Thessalian coins (which have on the reverse
a youth seizing a bull by the horns) is the mount of the Thessalian
matador. Possibly then the type on coins such as No. 53 is still the
horse used in the ravpoKadd^ia.
G 97
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Rev. Similar to No. 54, but without inscrip-
tion ; in the field, a club.
British Museum. Silver Persic Stater, 11 '02 grammes. Hill, op. cit. t
PI. xxxi. 7.
56. Obv. Similar to No. 54, but no Aramaic in-
scription or letters ;under seat T (for
Tarsus) ;in field r., B and ivy-leaf.
Rev. Bust of Athena nearly facing in triple-
crested helmet;in field r., ivy-leaf.
British Museum. Silver Persic Stater, 10 '90 grammes. Hill, op. cit.,
PI. xxxi. 14.
Mazaeus governed Cilicia for the Persian kingfor some ten years, before he received in addition
the governorship of Syria. From 350 to 333 B.C.
he could call himself by the title which is to be
read on our coin (No. 54), where '
Ebernahara/ or'
the land beyond the river,' must be understood
from the Persian point of view, so as to mean the
land west of the Euphrates.1 Mazaeus struck coins
in great quantities, in both parts of his government.The present coin (No. 54) was issued from Tarsus.
This is made clear, not merely by its resemblance
to the other Tarsian issues, and by the type and
legend of the obverse, but also by the group of
animals on the reverse. For the bull-slaying lion
is one of the emblems of the city of Tarsus, where it
appears at intervals throughout the whole historyof the coinage.
2 The ear of barley and the bunch
of grapes are merely symbols of the fertility of the
1Halevy, M&. d'Epigr. (Paris, 1874), pp. 64-71.
3 On the significance of the bull-slaying lion in Anatolian religion, see
J. W. Crowfoot, J. H. S. t xx. pp. 118 ff.
98
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
district; which was owed to the local Baal, who, as'
possessor'
of the land, was also a god of fruitful-
ness.1
It remains only to explain the double line
of walls over which the animal-group is placed. It
has usually been regarded, and that very naturally,
as the enceinte of Tarsus itself. Babelon,2however,
has proposed to identify these walls with the gateswhich we know to have marked the boundarybetween Syria and Cilicia. His theory is at first
blush most attractive, especially in the light of the
inscription which describes Mazaeus as governingthe two provinces which these gates at once con-
nected and disjoined. Further considerations, how-
ever, rob the theory of some of its plausibility. It
destroys the connexion between the two portionsof the type : the emblem of Tarsus stands not over
the city of Tarsus, but over a gateway distant from
the city many a mile. Again, the representationof the walls is not always accompanied by the title
of '
satrap of Ebernahara and Cilicia'
;for there is
another series of coins (No. 55) with the same types,but without anything else to connect them with
Mazaeus. These coins bear the initials of Issus,
Mallus, Soli, and Tarsus, but were all probablyissued from the last mint out of funds provided bythe various cities.
3
They should be comparedwith yet another series (No. 56), having a facinghead of Athena on one side, and Baaltars on the
other ; here again we find the initials of the same
1 Cumont in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-EncycL, ii. 2650.2 Perses AcMm., p. xlv.3 See B. M. C. Lycaonia, etc., pp. Ixxxiii f.
99
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
four cities, but not the name of Mazaeus. To the
time of Mazaeus, nevertheless, they have usually
been attributed. But it has recently been sug-
gested that they more probably belong to the periodafter Mazaeus, a period which hitherto had not
been provided with its coinage.1
Accepting this
series with Athena as later than Mazaeus, we
naturally class with them the coins just mentioned
(No. 55), bearing the initials of the four cities,
but not the name of Mazaeus. It follows that
the double line of walls which occurs on these coins
can have no special relation to Mazaeus as satrapof the provinces on both sides of the gates ;
and
that it only occurs on his coins as the representationof the chief city of his Cilician province. Finally,
the two walls entirely fail to express the nature of
gates of any kind, whereas, except in being double,
they do not differ in any way from other repre-
sentations of a fortified city. There were, it is
true, two walls at the gates in question. But theywere at a distance of three stadia from each other,
running down from the high ground to the sea at
right angles to the road. Between them flowed
the river Carsus, a plethron broad. The gates were
pierced in these two walls. On our coin, if anysort of passage is indicated, it is by a road runningbetween and parallel to the walls, and the gates,the most important feature, are absent. Even in
the conventional representation, which alone waswithin the capacity of a die-engraver of the fourth
century, we should not expect such an omission.
1Howorth, Num. Chr. (1902), p. 83.
IOO
HISTOKICAL GREEK COINS
We conclude, therefore, that the walls of Tarsus,
which must have had a double line of fortification,
are represented on these coins.
TARENTUM IN THE FOURTH CENTURY
350-330 B.C.
57. Obv. TAPA Head of Demeter r., wearing
stephane and transparent veil ;in
front, dolphin ; behind, E
Rev. TAPANTINilN Poseidon, nude to waist,
seated 1., his 1. hand supporting his
trident ; before him, infant Taras, wear-
ing crepundia, raising his hands;
in
field r., star and T; below seat, I<; on
the edge of the coin (?).
British Museum. Gold Stater, 8 '58 grammes. W. Wroth, Num.
Chr., 1899, PI. vii. 5. Cp. A. J. Evans, Horsemen of Tarentum,
p. 66, PI. v. 1.
Besides being one of the most beautiful in the
whole Greek series, this coin belongs to a period of
considerable interest in the history of Tarentum.
The half-barbarous tribes in the southern part of
the peninsula, Lucanians, Brettians, Messapians, bytheir harassing attacks on the Greek colonies, were
preparing the way for the final subjection of the
whole region under the power of Borne. Sorely
pressed by their enemies, the Tarentines turned to
Greece for aid. About 346 B.C. (to follow the
chronology of most historians) Archidamus in. of
Sparta was sent to aid them with a large army
consisting mainly of mercenaries. His expedition101
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
lasted until the disaster of 338, in which he and
the greater part of his army were destroyed at
Mandonium (or Manduria) on the day, it is said,
of the battle of Chaeroneia. Some four or five
years later (the date is vague) Tarentum found
another helper in Alexander i. of Epirus, who
fought successfully against all the neighbouringhostile tribes, and entered into friendly relations
with Rome. But he fell into disagreement with
the Tarentines, and was treacherously killed (about
330) by Lucanian hands.
As considerable sums of money must have been
required to support the large numbers of troopswhich these two generals employed, it is probablethat the series of gold coins with varying types, to
which No. 57 belongs, was issued to defray the
expenses of the wars. It is perhaps unsafe to par-
ticularise on this point. Evans, indeed, sees in the
reverse type the personification of the city Tarentum
appealing to its fatherland, personified in Poseidon.
For Taras was the son of Poseidon and a nymph,1
and the sanctuary of Poseidon on Mount Taenarum
was among the most important in Laconia. If this
interpretation is right, we may think of the coin as
struck by order of Archidamus himself rather than
of the Tarentines. On the other hand, if this
explanation appear to be far-fetched, we must class
the type as simply one more, and the most charm-
ing, of the many representations of Taras on
Tarentine coins. Wroth is somewhat inclined to
bring the coin down to the slightly later period of
1Paus., x. 10, 8.
IO2
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Alexander of Epirus, to whose time coins from the
same obverse die are attributed by Evans, and with
the style of whose own South Italian coinage that
of the Taras and Poseidon stater has some points
of affinity. But, where the dates of the possible
alternatives are so close together, we shall be more
discreet in merely regarding the coin as a monu-
ment of Tarentine art in the middle of the fourth
century, without attempting to decide more par-
ticularly what event in the troublous history of
the time occasioned the issue.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
336-323 B.C.
58. Obv. Head of Athena r., in crested Corinthian
helmet adorned with serpent; below,
thunderbolt.
Rev. AAE^ANAPOY Winged Nike standing
to 1., holding in r. wreath, in 1. cruciform
object ;in the field, monogram of AH
British Museum. Gold Stater, 8 '62 grammes. B. V. Head, G. A.,
PL 30, 4.
59. Obv. Head of young Heracles r., with features
resembling Alexander's, wearing lion's
skin.
Rev. AAEZANAPOY Zeus, nude to waist,
seated 1., his 1. resting on sceptre, in his
r. an eagle ;in the field, a prow.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17 '26 grammes. Head,
op. cit., PI. 30, 6; Gardner, Types, PI. xii. 1. 15; Hill, Handbook,
PI. vii. 4.
103
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
60. Obv. Head of young Heracles r., in lion's skin.
Rev. BAIAEA AAEHANAPOY Zeus seated
as on No. 59 ; in field 1., 9E ; below,
monogram of OAH
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16'20 grammes. Head,
op. cU., PI. 64, 2.
It is generally supposed that the huge currencymost commonly associated with the name of
Alexander the Great was not issued until his in-
vasion of Asia. But it is difficult to suppose that
the enormous amount of gold produced by the mines
at Crenides was not at once turned into coin ; and
therefore, unless Alexander went on issuing coins
with his father's types, we must admit that goldstaters like No. 58 were issued from 336 onwards.
As regards silver, Imhoof-Blumer has attributed to
the first years of Alexander a series of coins of
which the chief type is the eagle on a thunderbolt.
If his attribution is correct, this coinage can onlyhave lasted a very short time.
The types of Athena and Nike are quite new to
the Macedonian coinage. Their general appropri-ateness to Alexander's scheme of conquest is
obvious nearly as obvious as that of the type of
Heracles and the giant in Napoleon's medal of the' Descente en Angleterre.' It has further been
remarked 1 that the deities who now appeared on
Alexander's coins had been most prominent as
champions of the Greek side against the Trojan ;
and that the deities to whom Alexander sacrificed
1 Gardner, Types, p. 51.
104
PLATE VII.
Nos. 54 60.
HISTOKICAL GREEK COINS
on landing in Asia were Zeus, Athena, and Heracles.1
On the gold staters Nike appears naturally as the
associate of Athena. The object which she holds
has given rise to considerable discussion. One fact
is clear, that it is of a naval character, and it seems
most probable that it is a naval standard.2
In addition to the coins of these types actuallystruck in Alexander's lifetime at various mints,
there is an enormous series of coins of the same
types issued after his death. Of the gold and
bronze coins with his name it is not supposed that
any were struck after about 280 B.C. But the
imitations of the silver continued to be issued in
some places nearly as late as the beginning of the
Roman Empire. Alexander's coinage indeed was
among the most lasting of his institutions. The
distinction of the epoch and place to which the
various classes of imitations belong is a matter of
considerable difficulty. In especial, the local attri-
butions made by L. Mliller,3 and now generally
followed merely for the lack of a better classifica-
1Arr., Anab., i. 11. 6 ; see Holm, Gr. Gesch., iii. note 12 on chap, xxvii.
2 See Assmann in Z. f. N., xxv. pp. 215 ff, with a review of previous
theories, all of which are satisfactorily refuted, so far as the nature of
the object is concerned. He holds that it is Phoenician in origin, and
that Alexander adopted it in commemoration of his acquisition of the
sea-power, hitherto enjoyed by the Phoenicians. In a subsequent number
of the same Zeitschrift I confirm Babelon's assertion that a similar
object occurs in 336-335 B.C. at Athens, in the hands of Nike, and also
of Athena, on Panathenaic vases of that year. This form of standard
was therefore known in Greece, outside the area of Phoenician influence,
before Alexander took over the Phoenician fleet ; and the contrary is
part of Assmann's chief argument. Whether, as Babelon has argued
(M6L de Num., i. pp. 203-17), Alexander borrowed the type from Athens
is a different question ; probably he did not.
3 Numismatique d'Alexandre le Grand, Copenhagen, 1855.
105
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
tion, have been proved wrong in various important
particulars. As regards date, in classifying the
coins with Alexander's name, Mtiller divides theminto no less than seven classes, of which only the
first three can be regarded as in any sense con-
temporaneous with Alexander. Following a general
tendency, the later Alexandrine coins become
flatter and more '
spread'
as they recede from
Alexander's time. As an instance of the final stageof development, we may take the semi-barbarous
coin No. 60 with the monogrammatic mint-mark of
Odessus. It belongs to the first century B.C.
It is curious that the coins of Alexander had
nothing like the same vogue as his father's amongthe barbarians. The market had already been
captured when Alexander's coins appeared on the
scene.
PTOLEMY I.
323-284 B.C.
61. Obv. Head of Alexander the Great r., with
ram's horn of Zeus Ammon, wearing
elephant's-skin headdress, and aegis
round neck.
Rev. AAEHANAPOY Zeus seated 1., holding
eagle in r., and resting with 1. on
sceptre. In field 1., thunderbolt ; under
chair, OP
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17 '18 grammes. Poole,
B. M. C .Ptolemies, p. 1, No. 1; Svoronos, No/tfo>t. TOV Kpdrovt ruv
HroX. p. 5, No. 24/3.
I O6
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
62. Olv.. Similar to No. 61.
Rev. AAEZANAPOY Archaistic figure of
Athena, standing on tip-toe, wearing longchiton and chlaina, wielding spear in r.,
holding shield on 1. arm. In field, on
1., monogram of AP, on r., EY and eagleon thunderbolt.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17 '14 grammes. Poole,
op. cit., p. 2, No. 6; Svoronos, op. cit., p. 9, No. 447.
63. Obv. Head of Ptolemy r., wearing diadem and
aegis.
Rev. PTOAEMAIOY BAIAE.fl Eagle stand-
ing 1. on thunderbolt;in field 1., mono-
gram of AA
British Museum. Silver Phoenician Tetradrachm, 14 '92 grammes.
Poole, op. cit., p. 23, No. 85; Svoronos, op. cit., p. 33, No. 190a.
The earliest coinage issued by Ptolemy Soter
probably consisted of pieces of the usual Alexan-
drine types (see Nos. 58, 59), and bearing the nameof Alexander or of Philip (i.e. Philip in.). After the
murder of Philip in 317 B.C. these issues probablycame to an end, being replaced by tetradrachms
similar to No. 61. The old Macedonian reverse
type is preserved, but we get an obverse which is
more distinctly connected with Egypt. Lysimachusof Thrace, as we shall see, placed the horned head
of the deified Alexander on his coins ;so too does
Ptolemy, but he associates it with his African
dominion by covering the head with an elephant's
skin. The name AAEHANAPOY may be read as
referring either to Alexander the Great, or to
107
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Alexander iv., for whom Ptolemy was regent.1 A
modest allusion to Ptolemy himself is found in
the thunderbolt ; this afterwards, as we shall see,
becomes an important element in the regularPtolemaic type.Next comes (No. 62) a change in the reverse
type ; Zeus is replaced by a figure ofAthena, usually
supposed to represent the Macedonian Athena 'AX/a's.
Beyond the fact that Livy2
says that the Athena of
Pella was called Aids, I do not know what evidence
there is for this identification. It is true that on
coins struck by Antigonus Gonatas or AntigonusDoson and by Philip v.
8 we find a somewhat similar
figure of Athena. But the two differ in one im-
portant detail;on Ptolemy's coin the goddess wields
a spear ; on the others, her weapon is a thunderbolt.
Since the coins of Antigonus and Philip were doubt-
less issued from Pella, it is reasonable to supposethat they, rather than the coins of Ptolemy, pre-
serve for us the figure of the Athena worshippedthere. In any case the figure of the goddess, in its
attitude and dress, is an excellent illustration of the
archaistic cultus-statue of the time. The eagle on
the thunderbolt,which figures as a symbol beside it, is
the badge of Ptolemy in its fully developed form.
Either contemporary with these Attic tetra-
drachms, or (more probably) immediately subse-
quent to them, are tetradrachms struck with the
same types, but on a different standard, which
1 Dr. J. Six's theory (R&m. Mttth., 1899, pp. 88 f.), that the head
represents Alexander iv., does not seem to me to be convincing.2
42, 51. 3 See below, No. 79.
1 08
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
has been recognised as the Rhodian. 1 Whateverwe may call it, it seems to have bridged the
gap between the Attic standard formerly in use
and the Phoenician standard which Ptolemy finally
adopted. It is difficult to believe that these
Ptolemaic ' Rhodian'
tetradrachms can have been
issued contemporaneously with others of exactlysimilar types but Attic weight. Possibly the
standard was found useful in a most important partof Ptolemy's dominions, Cyprus, where the silver
coinage of the kings of Salamis from the time of
Euagoras n. (361-351 B.C.), was of Rhodian weight.If this be the case, we may conjecture that it was
adopted soon after Ptolemy's brother, Menelaus,
finally reduced Cyprus (after 312).
The last stage in Ptolemy's monetary experimentsis reached with No. 63, about 306 B.C., when wehave as types the ruler's own head and his badge,the eagle on athunderbolt. The king wears the aegis,
as we have seen it worn by Alexander on coins of the
preceding series. The standard of the silver is now
changed once more, this time to the Phoenician,which
prevails to the end of the Ptolemaic series. Possiblyafter the loss of Cyprus in 306 the commercial
relations between Egypt and Phoenicia may have
been strengthened, and the necessity for a coinageon the Rhodian standard reduced. Finally, since
Ptolemy, following the example of Demetrius,2 took
1 Svoronos calls it Phoenician ; but there are specimens weighing as
much as 16 grammes, whereas the Phoenician standard rarely, if ever,
rises above 15*34 grammes. It is evidently distinct from the ordinaryPhoenician standard used by Ptolemy at the next stage.
2 See No. 69.
IO9
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the title of '
King' in 306, and since there was no
longer any necessity for perpetuating the name of
Alexander on the coinage, the inscription is now
PTOAEMAIOY BAIAEA. Ptolemy's name with-
out the royal title had already appeared on some
earlier coins, issued after the death of Alexander iv.;
but these were unimportant and probably local
issues.
AGATHOCLES, TYRANT OF SYRACUSE
317-289 B.C.
64. Obv. Young male head 1., laureate (as on coins
of Philip ii. of Macedon, No. 43).
Rev. ^YPAKOSHAN Two-horse chariot to r.;
below, triskeles symbol.British Museum. Gold Drachm, 4'29 grammes. B. V. Head, Coinage
of Syracuse, p. 43 ; C. A., PI. 35, 27 ; Gardner, Types, PI. xi. 24.
65. Obv. Young male head r. wearing elephant'sskin head-dress.
Rev. ArA0OKAEO Winged Athena fightingr. with spear and shield ; at her feet,
owl.
Vienna Cabinet. Gold Stater, 8 '45 grammes. Imhoof-Blumer, Num.Zt. t iii. p. 4; Head, Syr., p. 46 f. ; Hill, Coins of Ancient Sicily,
PI. xi. 12.
66. Obv. |<OPA Head of Persephone r. wearingwreath of barley.
Rev. AfAeOKAEIOt Nike, nude to waist,
standing to r., fastening helmet to
trophy ;in field r., triskeles symbol.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '88 grammes. Head,B. M. C. Sicily, p. 196, No. 384.
I IO
PLATE VIII.
6666
Nos. 6 1 67.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
67. Obv. Head of Athena r. in crested Corinthian
helmet decorated with griffin.
Rev. [A]rA00l<AEO[] BAIAEO Wingedthunderbolt ;
in the field, monogramofTP
British Museum. Gold Octobol, 5'69 grammes. Head, Syr., p. 51, PI.
ix. 10; C. A., PL 35,30.
The money issued by Agathocles1
during his
tenure of power offers the most apt illustration of the
gradual development from the position of ar/xmjyos
avTOKparvp, to which he was chosen in 317-316 B.C.,
to the absolutism of his later years. His earliest
issues do not bear his name. But a group of coins,
to which No. 64 belongs, assignable on grounds of
style to the last third of the fourth century, agreesin bearing the triskeles symbol with later groupsof coins inscribed with the name of Agathocles. It
is clear that this first group belongs to the early
years of Agathocles. The triskeles is usually ex-
plained as the symbol of the three-cornered island
Trinacria ; if so, it must have been placed on the
coins as an indication of a claim to rule all Sicily.
It is possible, however, that it is no more than the
private signet of Agathocles. It may be doubted
whether Syracuse could with any show of reason
have made a claim to the sovereignty of all Sicily
during the earliest period of Agathocles' tenure of
power. True, this object appears as the symbol of
Sicily on Roman coins of P. Cornelius Lentulus
Marcellinus with the head of Marcellus, the con-
1 For brief accounts, see Head, H. N. 1, pp. 158 f. ; Holm, Oesch. Sic., iii.
pp. 677 ff. ; Hill, Coins of Ancient Sicily, pp. 152 f.
I I I
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
queror of Syracuse. But these coins were struck
as late as 42 B.C. ; nor can we argue from Romanto Greek ideas of symbolism. On the other hand,had the Agathoclean triskeles indicated the sover-
eignty of Sicily, we should have expected it to
reappear on the coins of Hieron n.
The types of the gold drachm (No. 64) are, signi-
ficantly enough, identical with those which had
already become familiar to all Greeks on the staters
of Philip IL (see No. 43).
Nos. 65 and 66 belong to the second stage of the
Agathoclean coinage. They bear his name, but
were evidently issued before his assumption of the
title of /JacrtXevs. When he took that title is some-
what uncertain. If, on the authority of Diodorus,1
some say that it was in the year 307-306, we mayreply that just then the affairs of Agathocles were
in a most awkward plight. He was hardly in a
position to proclaim himself king without exciting
general derision, until after the defeat ofDeinocrates,
leader of his banished enemies, at Torgium in 305-
304. We may therefore assign 304 B.C. as the lower
limit of the group of coins with which we are dealing.2
As to the upper limit, the types afford a suggestion.
On the obverse of the gold coin we have a plain
reference to the African campaign ;on the reverse
is a somewhat less plain allusion to the victory of
Agathocles, in 310, over Hanno and Bomilcar. Onthat occasion
3 the Syracusan general is said to have
1 xx. 54. 1.
3 On the date of the assumption of the title of /3cwiXei5j, see B. Niese,
in his Getch., i. p. 473, or in Pauly-Wissowa, Jteal-Encyd., i. 755.
Diod., xx. 11. 3.
112
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
excited the courage of his troops by letting fly
captured owls, which settled on the weapons andhelmets of the men, and seemed an omen that the
goddess of battle was on their side. The coin bears
an obvious general resemblance to tetradrachms
issued by Ptolemy with the name of Alexander (No.
62). Agathocles was in close relations with Ptolemy,whose daughter Theoxena he married. 1 But from
this last fact no certain evidence can be extracted
as regards the chronology of the coins.
The type of Persephone on No. 66 is by no meansnew to the Syracusan coinage, for Demeter and her
daughter were the tutelary deities of the State.
But it is now treated in a manner quite different
from anything we have hitherto seen. Further,there is an insistence on the importance of the type,shown by adding the name of the goddess in the
genitive (KOPA5I), that no one may mistake the
identity of the Maiden Goddess. We are reminded
of the fact that on landing in Africa Agathocles,before burning his ships, sacrificed to Demeter and
the Maiden and dedicated his fleet to them. 2 Onecannot help thinking also that the addition of the
name Kopas may have been an excuse for gettingrid of the word ^vpaKoo-'ioiv.
All these coins, then, with their obvious references
to the African campaign, we may well feel justified
in dating from about 310 to about 304 B.C.
On the group to which No. 67 belongs, Agath-ocles has assumed the title of king, which is, of
course, expressed in the Doric genitive form. The1 See Holm, Gesch. Sic., iii. p. 681. 2
Diod., xx. 7.
H II
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
gold coin before us, taken at the ratio of 12:1,would be the equivalent of four silver tetradrachms
similar to No. 66. No. 65, on the same ratio, is the
equivalent of 6, No. 64 of 3 such tetradrachms. 1
The coins which we have discussed are of course
only a selection from those issued by Agathocles.An examination of all his coinage would show that
in the first period (317-310 B.C.) all three metals
(gold, silver and bronze) bore simply the legendYPAKOinN; that in the second (310-304) the
gold coin bore the tyrant's name, the bronze the
name of the people, the silver a combination of the
tyrant's name,2 and (l) that of the people, or (2)
that of Kora. In the third period, the name of
Agathocles with the royal title is found on both
gold and bronze. But the only silver coins which
can be attributed to this time are staters of Cor-
inthian types (head of Athena and Pegasus) ; theybear no inscription, but are identified as Agatho-clean by the triskeles symbol. The weight of these
1 On the ratio, see Th. Reinach, L'Hist. par les Monnaies, p. 82. M.Reinach does not accept the attribution to Agathocles of No. 64; he
gives it to the period between Timoleon and Agathocles.3 The adjective 'A*xa0oK\6<o; on some of these coins is explained by
Head as belonging to Nhrij, understood from the type. But the analogyof other similar adjectives, such as
'
AXe^dvSpeun (scil. crrar^p), 'A\fav5ptLa
(scil. Spawn) on coins of Alexander of Pherae, would suggest a similar
substantive here, were it not that <rra-n}/> was the usual name for the
didrachm and not the tetradrachm. A few of the coins with the types of
No. 66 have no legend on the reverse. Many are of very barbarous
atyle. Probably (Head, Syr., p. 48) these barbarous specimens were
struck in Africa, where the means of minting were not so easily to be
obtained ; and those without the legend may have been issued in the
African camp after the flight of Agathocles to Sicily. As regards the
bronze coins of this period, Agathocles had less excuse for putting his
name on them, since he would not require to strike them largely for
military purposes.
114
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
'
Pegasi.' is somewhat reduced; they contain eight
instead of ten litrae (6*96 instead of 87 grammes),and the gold coin No. 67 was equivalent to ten such'
Pegasi'
at the ratio of 12 : 1.
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE AETOLIAN LEAGUE
314-279 B.C.
68. Obv. Head of young Heracles r. in lion's skin.
Rev. AITAAAN Personification of Aetolia
seated r. on pile of shields ; she wears
a kausia on her head, short girt chiton,
chlamys and boots ; her r. rests on spear,
her 1. holds sword in sheath. Of the
shields one, of Macedonian shape, is
inscribed AY ; on the other, of Gaulish
shape, is A ;in the field, a monogram.
Below her feet, a Gaulish trumpet
(karnyx) ending in a dragon's head.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17 '17 grammes.P. Gardner, Types, p. 202; B. M. C. Thessaly, etc., pp. Iv f.,
p. 194, No. 4.
The actual origin of the Aetolian league is obscure.
We first hear of an organised KOLVOV in 314 B.C.,
when Cassander invaded the country of the Aetoli-
ans in order to punish them for their support of
Aristodemus,1 the Milesian lieutenant of Antigonus.
After organising the defence of Acarnania by a
general synoecism of the smaller places into the
larger towns, Cassander left the Aetolian war in the
hands of Lyciscus, the governor of Epirus. Against1Diod., xii. 66. Cp. Nieae, i. pp. 282 ff.
"5
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
this general the Aetolians won a considerable success,
capturing the newly founded city of Agrinium.1
The Aetolians continued to absorb fresh membersinto their confederation, and when in 279 the Gauls
invaded the country, the Aetolian League was the
strongest power in Central Greece. It preventedthe Gaulish leader Acichorius from combining forces
with Brennus in the attack on the Delphic temple,and took great part in the decisive defeat of the
invaders. The Aetolians were most zealous in the
pursuit of the enemy, and followed Acichorius as far
as the Spercheius. In 277 the Aetolians founded
the penteteric festival of the Soteria ;
2 but we are
more especiallyconcernedwith the 'figure ofan armed
woman, presumably Aetolia,'3 which was dedicated
by them 'after they had punished the Gauls for
their cruelty to the people of Gallium.' There is no
reasonable doubt that this statue is represented on
coins like No. 68 ; and a very high degree of pro-
bability accordingly attaches to Gardner's sugges-tion that the A on the Gaulish shield and the AYon the Macedonian may stand for Acichorius and
Lyciscus respectively. The custom of inscribing
names, initials or monograms on shields was
common in Greece, one of the most famous
instances being the of the Sicyonians.*
In spite of the anti-Macedonian character of the
1Diod., xix. 67 f.
2Dittenberger, Syll^ 206. 3
Paus., x. 18.7.4Xen., Hellen., iv. 4.10. For other instances, see Gardner, B. M. C.
Tfassaly, etc. p. Ivii ; Frazer, Pausanias, vol. iii. p. 420 ; and G. H.
Chase, The Shield Devices of the Greeks (Harvard Studies in Classical
Philology, xiii., 1902), pp. 77, 87, etc.
116
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
reverse, the Heracles of the obverse is derived from
the silver tetradrachms introduced by Alexander
the Great. At the time (shortly after 279 B.C.)
when this federal coinage was first issued, these
Alexandrine tetradrachms were the most wide-
spread currency in Greece.
DEMETRIUS POLIORCETES DEFEATS
PTOLEMY : 306 B.C.
69. Obv. Prow of galley 1., on which Nike standing
L, blowing salpinx and holding standard.
Rev. AHMHTPIOY BAIAEn Poseidon, nude,
seen from behind, standing 1., wieldingtrident in r., chlamys wrapped round
1. arm ; in field, two monograms.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17'24 grammes. Head,C. A., PI. 31, 17; Gardner, Types, PL xii. 4; Hill, Handbook, PI.
vii. 10.
In 306 B.C. Demetrius, commanding for Anti-
gonus, inflicted a crushing defeat on Ptolemy off
Salamis in Cyprus. The coin before us, with its
evident reference to a naval victory, must have
been struck soon afterwards. Demetrius, it is to
be noted, bears the title of king ;it was in conse-
quence of this victory that Antigonus himself
assumed the royal diadem and gave his son per-
mission to follow his example.1
The obverse of the coin has a special interest as
1 The assumption of the title by Demetrius has nothing to do with his
actual reign as king of Macedon, which began about 293 B.C.
117
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
reproducing the statue known as the Nike of Samo-
thrace, discovered on that island in 1863 and nowin the Louvre.1 The coin has indeed made it
possible to place the statue on the prow in its
original position. This fine work was evidentlydedicated in the sanctuary of the Cabeiri byDemetrius or by his father in the thanksgiving for
the victory. As we are able, thanks largely to the
coins, to date the monument within a few years, it
supplies an important fixed point in the history of
Greek sculpture.The object held by Nike in her left hand is the
same as we have met with on the coinage of Alex-
ander the Great (above, p. 105), i.e. probably a
naval standard.
The same figure of Nike occurs on a gold stater of
Demetrius at Florence,2 combined with the reverse
type of Athena Promachos; and the types of our
tetradrachm are also found on silver drachms and
half-drachms. All these were probably issued
together.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SELEUCID KINGDOM
306 B.C.
70. Obv. Head of Seleucus I. r. in helmet covered
with skin and adorned with horn and
ear of bull; round his neck, lion's
skin.
1Collignon, Hist, de la Sctilpt. Or., ii. PL x; E. A. Gardner, Hand-
book, p. 486. For the various excavations, see especially Conze, Hauser,
etc., Archdol. Untersuchungen auf Samothrake, 1875-80.8Conze, fig. 42 b, No. 1.
HISTOKICAL GREEK COINS
Rev. BAIAEn SEAEYKOY Nike r. placingwreath on trophy ; in field, E andAl
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '85 grammes. Gard-
ner, B. M. C. Seleucid Kings, p. 4, No. 36, PI. i. 11. Cp. E. Babelon,Jtois de Syrie, PI. i. 14.
The coinage of the founder of the Seleucid house
presents a variety of remarkable types. His first
coins were of the ordinary Alexandrine class, being
distinguished by the anchor the birthmark of
Seleucus. 1 The transition to what is more definitelyhis own coinage was given by tetradrachms with
the head of Zeus and elephant, and by golddouble-staters with the head of Alexander in a lion's
skin, and Nike holding wreath and standard a com-
bination of the silver and gold types of Alexander's
own coins. Next appear coins inscribed with the
name of Seleucus, which gradually displaces that of
Alexander. When Antigonus and Demetrius took
the title of /?ao-iXev9 in 306, Seleucus followed suit.
After this, although Alexandrine types were not
at once discarded, the majority of the types issued
were peculiar to Seleucus.
On the gold staters and silver tetradrachms which
have the head of Seleucus without his helmet, he
is represented with a bull's horn ;and the reverse
type of those coins is the head of a horse with bull's
horns. The elephants which draw the car ofAthena
on other coins of Seleucus are horned. And on
No. 70 the helmet worn by Seleucus himself has
1Justin, xv. 4.
119
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the horn and ear of a bull.1 These features are
generally explained by a passage of Appian,2 in
which we are told that the portrait-statues of
Seleucus were horned, because on one occasion,
when Alexander was sacrificing, he by sheer
strength subdued a bull which had escaped from
the altar. The explanation would be acceptable,were it not that, on coins of about the same time,
Seleucus' rival, Demetrius Poliorcetes, is also repre-sented with a bull's horn sprouting from his temple.
Probably, therefore, Seleucus borrowed the horn, as
he borrowed the royal title, from Demetrius. Thebull was employed by the Greeks as a symbol of
ultra-human force. That is why their artists chose
it for the form in which they embodied the river-
god, whether they represented the deity as an
ordinary bull, or as a bull with a human head, or
as a human being with small bull's horns sproutingfrom his forehead. That, again, is why Dionysus,the lusty god, was represented as rav/oo/ce/aws, or
conceived actually as rav/oos. The bull's horns of
Seleucus therefore indicate his superhuman poweras a divinised ruler, and have probably nothing to
do with the story told by Appian.The reverse type is interesting in connexion with
the somewhat similar type adopted by Agathoclesabout the same time. The silver tetradrachms of
the Sicilian tyrant with Nike nailing a helmet to
a trophy-stand (No. 66) were first issued about 310.1Cp. Herodot.
,vii. 76 : the helmets of an Asiatic tribe in the host
of Xerxes had crests, bull's horns, and ears. For other instances, see
B. M. C. Cyprus, p. liv, note 4.
2Syr., 57.
I 2O
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
They thus precede the coins of Seleucus with Nike
crowning a trophy, since on these Seleucus is called
^acrtXevs. Probably here again we have a case of
copying ; and the adaptation made by the engraversof Seleucus cannot be called an improvement on the
Sicilian original. It is impossible to say whether
the resemblance between the two types implies any
political relation between Syria and Sicily. Thecoins of Agathocles must have been struck in
enormous quantities for his African campaign, and
probably circulated far and wide. But of political
relations between Agathocles and the Diadochi wehear little until after his victory over Deinocrates
and assumption of the royal title in 304. And then
his friendship seems to have been especially first
with Ptolemy Soter, then with Pyrrhus, and last
of all with Demetrius.
LYSIMACHUS, KING OF THRACE
306-281 B.C.
71. Obv. Head of Alexander the Great r., idealised,
with ram's horn of Ammon, wearingdiadem.
Rev. BAIAEn[] AYIMAXO[Y] Athena,
wearing crested Corinthian helmet,
chiton and peplos, seated 1. on seat
decorated with palmette downwards,
holding in r. Nike who crowns the
king's name;her 1. elbow rests on her
shield, of which the device is a lion's
121
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
head;her spear rests on her r. shoulder.
In the field, cornucopiae and lyre
(chelys).
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 17 '21 grammes. W.Wroth, Num. Chr., 1895, p. 4, No. 5, PI. v. 4; Hill, Handbook,PL vii. 6.
Lysimachus, like the other Diadochi, assumed
the title of king in 306 B.C. His coins with the
royal title were issued between this date and 281,
when the battle of Corupedium ended his life. The
great wealth of this ruler, whose hoarding tendencyearned him the nickname of ya^o^vXa^,
1 has in partdescended to us in the very considerable mass of
coins struck by him in his own name. None of the
other Diadochi issued coins to anything like the
same extent. By far the greater quantity are of
the types here described, which are used for both
gold and silver;2 but among the earlier issues
with the royal title are some silver coins with
Alexandrine types.8
The head on our coin of Lysimachus is by nearlyall numismatists admitted to be a portrait of Alex-
ander the Great. Even apart from the attribute
of the ram's horn, the features on most good and
early specimens bear a distinct resemblance to those
of Alexander. 4 The figure ofAthena on the reverse
1Phylarchus ap. Athen., vi. 261 b.
3 The Greeks usually, and wisely, differentiated the types of gold and
silver ; but there are cases, as at Athens, where a divergence from typesmade popular by wide currency would have hindered the circulation.
3 Head, G. A., PI. 31, 18.
4 Nevertheless von Sallet (Berlin Beschreibung, p. 302) maintains that
it is the head of Lysimachus, for the reason that it occurs on coins of
Lysimacheia. But this foundation of Lysimachus might very well repeat
122
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
was perhaps suggested by the head of Athena on
Alexander's gold staters (No. 58). The ingenious
motif of Nike crowning the king's name is echoed
on coins of a later period : thus, at Pergamum, from
Attalus i. onwards, the seated Athena crowns the
name (4>IAETAIPOY) of the founder of the dynasty;l
and on coins of the Bithynian dynasty Zeus, stand-
ing, crowns the name of the reigning king.2
The coins of Lysimachus were struck at manymints, and the attributions are as difficult as in the
case of Alexandrine coins.3 As regards the present
coin, Mytilene is a possibility, but no more.
Just as was the case with Alexander's coins, so
the wide popularity of the money of Lysimachusled to its being imitated for nearly three centuries
after his death, not only in Thrace but in Asia
Minor. Particularly common are the coins of this
class issued at Byzantium, often exceedinglybarbarous in style. They are distinguished by the
letters BY and a trident. Some are countermarked
with the letters CLCXES,4
i.e. C(aius) L(ucius)
on its coins the type which its founder had placed on his own. The same
city reproduces from the coins of Alexander the head of young Heracles
wearing the lion's skin. It is quite possible that on some specimens there
may be an approximation to the features of Lysimachus (cp. Imhoof-
Blumer, Portratkopfe aufantiken Miinzen, p. 17) ; but as we do not knowwhat he was like, it seems better to adhere to the prevailing view,
which is supported by the ram's horn and general likeness to the
Alexander type. For a recent comparison between the coin and sculptures,
see P. Gardner, J. H. 8. , xxv. p. 253.1 Wroth, B. M. C. Mysia, PL xxiv. 2 ff.
2 Wroth, B. M. C. Sithynia, etc., PL xxxvii. 2 f. Cp. also the coin of
Orophernes, No. 86 below.3 For a list, see L. Miiller, Die Miinzen des thrakischen Konigs Lysi-
machus. Copenhagen, 1858.* Head, G. A., PL 64, 4.
123
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Caes(ares), which show that they were circulatingin the time of Augustus.
1
THE FOUNDATION OF THE PERGAMENE KINGDOM
281 B.C.
72. Obv. Head of Seleucus i. of Syria r., wearing
plain round fillet without ties.
Rev. 4>IAETAIPOY Athena seated 1., her r.
resting on her shield before her, her
left arm supporting spear ;in the field,
ivy leaf and bow.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16'81 grammes. Wroth,B. M. C. Mytia, p. 114, No. 28, PI. xxiii. 12. .
73. Obv. Head of Philetaerus r., wearing plainround fillet with ties.
Rev. Similar to No. 72, but monogram of AOon side of Athena's seat.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '96 grammes. Wroth,
op. cit., p. 115, No. 30, PI. xxiii. 13.
In the generally accepted classification of the
coins of the Pergamene dynasty, which is due to
Imhoof-Blumer,2 the tetradrachm No. 72 is assigned
to Philetaerus himself (281-263), No. 73 to Eu-
menes i. (263-241). The obverse of No. 72 without
doubt represents Seleucus Nicator ;that is proved
by a comparison with Syrian coins (cp. No. 70).
1 Caius and Lucius were adopted as heirs by Augustus in 17 B.C. anddied in 4 and 2 A.D. respectively.
3 Die Miinzen der Dynastic von Pergamon (Abhandl. der K. Preuss.
A hid., 1884). A recently suggested modification of the arrangement(A. J. B. Wace, J. H. 8., xxv. pp. 99 f.) does not affect the coins with
which we are dealing.
124
PLATE IX.
Nos. 6873.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
It is generally supposed that the coin was struck
after the death of the founder of the Seleucid
dynasty in 281, since he is represented wearing a
fillet, in those days still a sign of divinity. The
premiss is unsound, since there is evidence that
Seleucus was worshipped during his lifetime ; but
the conclusion is probably correct, since we maydoubt whether Philetaerus would have issued coins
in his own name before the epoch-making events
of 281.
The head on No. 73, which occurs as the ordinary
type of the Pergamene tetradrachms down to the
reign of Attalus IL, also represents a divinised
person. The cast of the features, and the appear-ance throughout the whole series of the name of
Philetaerus, make it quite certain that we have
here a portrait of the eunuch who founded the
dynasty. Philetaerus, the son of Attalus,1 who
had controlled the treasury of Lysimachus in Per-
gamum, fell away to the side of Seleucus shortly
before the battle of Corupedium (spring 281), in
which Lysimachus lost his life. The assassination
of Seleucus followed in the same year, and Phile-
taerus was able to set himself up as an independentruler. But, presumably as a matter of policy, and
in order to obviate any objections to his indepen-dence on the part of Antiochus I., who now suc-
ceeded his father on the Syrian throne, Philetaerus
placed the head of Seleucus on his coins, just as he
showed especial honour to the body of the murdered
1 C. H. Smith in J. H. S., xxii. pp. 194 f. ; Dittenberger, Or. Or.
Inter., No. 748.
125
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
king. For the portrait of Philetaerus himself wehave to wait until the reign of his successor, his
nephew and adopted son. The coins on which heis represented wearing the plain taenia are rare,
and seem to belong to the beginning of the reign of
Eumenes I. After this the founder wears either a
laurel wreath and diadem entwined, or a plainlaurel wreath.
Athena naturally appears on the reverse of the
coins as the goddess who was especially honouredat Pergamum, and it is even possible that the
monogram which appears on her throne on No. 73
refers to her.
The significance of the symbols of the ivy-leafand the bow is not quite clear. They (like other of
the symbols found on the Pergamene regal tetra-
drachms) occur as independent types on the bronze
coins. Were it not that there is evidence for the
origination of the cistophori (see No. 82) outside
Pergamum, we might see in ivy-leaf and bow a
kind of shorthand indication of the cults which
furnished the cistophoric types.
LOCRI IN THE PYRRHIC WAR
280-275 B.C.
74. Obv. Head of Zeus 1., laureate; below, NE in
monogram.Rev. AOKPAN The goddess Roma (PJ1MA)
seated r., with shield and sword, is
126
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
crowned with a wreath by Loyalty
(P!TI), who stands before her.
British Museum. Silver Italic Stater, 7 '08 grammes. Head, 0. A.,PI. 45, 23.
75. Obv. Head of Dodonaean Zeus 1., wearing oak-
wreath. Below, GE2I (partly in mono-
gram).Rev. [B]AIAEA PYPPOY Dione, wearing
Stephanos, seated 1. on throne; in her
r. a sceptre ; her 1. raises her peploslike a veil ; in exergue.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16'72 grammes. P.
Gardner, B. M. C. Thessaly, etc., p. Ill, No. 6, PI. xx. 10; Types,PI. xi. 7 ; Head, C. A., PI. 46, 27.
Locri was one of the cities which sided with
Rome on the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. Theeffect of Pyrrhus' victory at Heracleia was such
that the garrison was betrayed to him, and he wasable to occupy the city. He made it one of his
principal bases ;and the strong resemblance in style
between the heads of Zeus on the two coins Nos.
74 and 75 makes it almost certain that he set up a
mint there.1 His son Alexander was in command
of the occupying force;
but he was called to
Sicily when the king's affairs began to go ill, with
the result that Locri fell into the hands of the
Romans (277 B.C.). When Pyrrhus returned in
the spring of 275 B.C. Locri once more changed1Head, H. N.\ p. 88. The fact that Pyrrhus
1
tetradrachms have
frequently been found in South Italy, and even on the site of Locri itself,
is some confirmation of this conjecture ; although, since Locri was one of
the king's chief strongholds, it is inevitable that some of the coins withwhich he paid his troops should be found there, wherever they werestruck.
127
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
hands. The members of the Roman party were
harshly punished, and the king set up his head-
quarters in the city. To pay his troops he even
plundered the temple of Persephone. But he
finally left Italy in the autumn of the same year.When Locri returned to Roman hands is uncertain ;
but, in view of the strength which the Roman
party in this city had always possessed, it is un-
likely that it hesitated after the death of Pyrrhus
(273), if indeed it did not come over even sooner.
No. 75 must have been struck between 280 and
277 or in 275 ; it can hardly be later than the date
of Pyrrhus' final departure. It is difficult to saywhether the Locrian coin, No. 74, was struck in the
interval between the two occupations by Pyrrhus,or after his departure and before 268, when most
of the South Italian mints were closed for silver.
Head explains the coin as celebrating the goodfaith of Rome towards the Locrians
; but in that
case it is difficult to see why Pistis is representedas crowning Roma. If, on the other hand, Pistis
personifies the loyalty to Rome of the Roman partyin Locri, there would be much significance in the
adoption of this type during either of the brief
periods mentioned, when that party was in the
ascendant. The crown is given to Rome as a token
of honour and amity.The coin of Pyrrhus has interesting types the
two deities of Dodona. Zeus wears a wreath of
leaves from his sacred oak ; his consort Dione holds
her peplos-veil in the conventional attitude of the
bride.
128
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
ANTIGONUS GONATAS DEFEATS THE EGYPTIAN FLEET
circa 253 B.C.
76. Obv. Head of Poseidon wearing wreath of somemarine plant.
Rev. BA2HAEA2: ANTITONOY Apollo, nude,seated on prow of war-galley 1. ;
he
holds bow in r. ;in field, a monogram.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '85 grammes. Head,C. A., PL 41, 6; H. N.\ p. 203.
Although the inscription on this coin does not
enable us definitely to say to which Antigonusit ought to be attributed, the choice certainlylies between Antigonus Gonatas (276/5-240/39 B.C.)
and his nephew Antigonus Doson (229-221/0 B.C.).
The now generally received attribution1
is to the
former, the type, which obviously refers to some
naval victory,2
being connected with the battle
off Leucolla in Cos, where, about 253 B.C.,3Anti-
gonus defeated the Egyptian fleet. As a thank-
offering for the victory he dedicated a trireme to
Apollo : rrjv 'Avnyovov iepav rpLrjpr), y IvLKrjcre rovs
nroXe/xatou crT/oa/nyyous Trepl Aev/coXXav TTJS Koias,
OTTOU Sr) KOI T 'AiroXXtoj/i avrrjv av40^Kv^ This is
obviously the vessel represented on the coin; it
1 See Imhoof-Blumer, Monn. Or. , p. 128.
2Cp. the coin of Demetrius Poliorcetes, No. 69.
8 On the date, see Beloch, Die Schlacht bei Kos in Lehmann's Beitrdge.
zur alt. Gesch., i. pp. 289-294.4Athen., v. 209e. Beloch (loc. cit.) condemns tcpa? rpi-fip-q as corrupt,
since a ship of large dimensions is concerned. But one need not look for
accurate naval terminology in such a passage.
I 129
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
was dedicated either on the island, or at Triopiumon the mainland. 1
Of the other attributions of this coin, that pro-
posed by Head 2
assigns it to Antigonus Doson, with
reference to his expedition to Caria in 228 B.C.8
His chief argument is the comparatively late appear-ance of the style of the work ; but the force of
Imhoof-Blumer's arguments on the other side is
admitted. A. J. Evans,4 on the contrary, ac-
cepting the attribution to Gonatas, would place it
even earlier in his reign.'
Already in 280 we find
him aiding Pyrrhus with his ships. He had in-
herited his naval power from his father Demetrios
Poliorketes, and there seems no good reason whyhe should not have alluded to it on his earliest
coinage.' In the face of this divergence of opinionwhich shows, among other things, how little help
is afforded in this period by style we are free to
choose. Now the type clearly betokens some
dedication of a ship to Apollo ; and it is rejecting
the best gifts of Providence to ignore the passageof Athenaeus, which tallies so exactly with the
somewhat unusual type. A mere general reference
to naval power would have been sufficiently ex-
pressed by a ship without an Apollo.1Benndorf, Neue, arch. Untersuch. auf Samothrale, pp. 84 f. On the
circumstances in general, see Niese, ii. pp. 130, 131.a H. N. 1
, p. 204. 3Niese, ii. p. 326.
4 Horsemen of Tarentum, p. 150.
130
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
THE FOUNDATION OP THE PARTHIAN EMPIRE
circa 248 B.C.
77. Obv. Beardless bust 1. wearing helmet tied
with diadem, earring, torque, and cloak
fastened on shoulder.
Rev. APSIAKOY Figure, beardless, seated r.
on omphalos, wearing helmet as on
obverse, scale-armour, short cloak and
boots ;in outstretched r. a bow.
British Museum. Silver Attic Drachm, 3 '80 grammes. Wroth,B. M. C. Parthia, p. 1., No. 1., PI. i. 1.
The attribution and classification of the series of
Parthian coins present enormous difficulties ; but
there can be little doubt that No. 77 represents the
earliest coinage. Practically all the Parthian coins
bear the name AP2IAKOY,1 but only on this class
is it unaccompanied by any title. It is doubtful
whether any coins were struck by Arsaces himself,
who with his brother Tiridates revolted againsttheir Seleucid sovereign in the middle of the third
century, and founded the independence of Parthia.
These coins were perhaps struck by Tiridates i.,
who reigned circa 248-211 B.C. The person whose
head is represented on the obverse, and whose figure
as a bowman is the standard type of the Parthian
coinage from beginning to end, is most probablyArsaces. His regal status is indicated by a diadem
fastened round his helmet : he is represented as an
1Cp. Strabo, xv. 702: 'A/xra/ccu -yip KO.\OVVTCU Travre^iSiq. Si 6 u.lv'Qpw$r}t
6 Si Qpadnqs 6 8' d\\o TI.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
archer, because the bow was the national weaponof the Parthians. 1 But why is he seated on the
omphalos, the special (though not exclusive) attri-
bute of Apollo ? Probably not because he was
divinised, but because the original on which the
type was modelled was the seated figure of Apolloon the Seleucid coinage. On the later coins the
omphalos is replaced by the more appropriatethrone such a throne as that golden one on which
the envoys of Marcus Antonius found Phraates iv.
seated, twanging the string of his bow. 2
PHILIP V. AND THE CRETANS
220 B.c.
78. Obv. Male head r., with whisker, hair boundwith taenia ; bow and quiver at shoulder.
Rev. [nOjAYPHNIAN Artemis Dictynna (?)
seated 1. holding Nike ; in exerguethunderbolt.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 15'51 grammes. Wroth,B. M. C. Crete, p. 68, No. 18, and p. xvii ; Gardner, Types, p. 204 ;
Svoronos, Num. de la Crete one., p. 281, No. 40, PI. xxvi. 19.
79. Obv. Head of Philip v. r. diademed.
Rev. BAIAEn *IAIPPOY Archaistic figureof Athena Alkis 1., seen somewhat from
behind, holding shield on 1. arm and
hurling thunderbolt with r. In the
field, two monograms.British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '78 grammes. Head,
C. A., PI. 41, 8.
1 On the type, see Wroth, op. cit., pp. Ixvii f.
- Dion Cassius, xlix. 27.
132
PLATE X.
Nos. 74-79.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
At first sight the obverses of these two coins
may not seem to be in any close relation to each
other. But the appearance of an Apollo with
whiskers, and with very definitely individualised
features, arrests our attention ; and we can have
no doubt that it is a human being representedin the guise of a divinity. Few who are familiar
with the coins of Philip v. and Perseus will doubt
that we have to do with some member of that
family. The Cretan coin, if we may judge by styleand weight, may well belong to the closing years of
the third century, so that no objection can be raised
on the score of date to the identification here
maintained.
Towards the end of the reign of Ptolemy m.,who exerted considerable influence on the affairs of
Crete, the smaller places in the island were for the
most part subject to the two powerful cities of
Cnossus and Gortyna.1 But Lyttus resisted their
domination and, soon after the death of Ptolemyin 221-220 B.C., the league broke up. Polyrhenium,with four other cities, went over to the side of
Lyttus. Even in Gortyna there were two parties.
With the help, however, of some Aetolian allies,
the Cnossians gained the upper hand in Gortynaand captured Lyttus itself, which was reduced to
ruins and never recovered from the blow. But the
anti-Cnossian party did not despair. An appeal to
1 For the history of the period, see Polyb., iv. 53-55; Strabo, x. 478 ;
Niese, ii. pp. 428 f. ; Dittenberger, Syll.2,No. 241. The alliance between
Cnossus and Gortyna is illustrated by certain bronze coins issued with
the name and reverse type (labyrinth) of Cnossus, but with the obverse
type (Europa on bull) of Gortyna (Wroth, op. cit., p. xvi).
133
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Philip and to the Achaeans brought some seven
hundred men (Illyrians, Achaeans, Phocians) to
Crete, while the Cnossians induced Rhodes to take
their side. The influence, diplomatic and military,
of Philip and Aratus secured the complete triumphof their allies.
It was probably to commemorate this successful
intervention of Philip on the side of Polyrheniumthat the city struck the coin on which the Mace-
donian king is represented in the guise of Apollo.The local goddess, in allusion to the same event,
holds a figure of Nike. The thunderbolt, which
appears as a symbol, represents Zeus, whose head
is found on some of the earlier coins of the place.
It is significant of the shifting politics of the
time that Polyrhenium was one of the cities which
twenty years later signalised their adhesion to an
anti-Macedonian alliance by striking coins with
Athenian types (see No. 80).
ATHENS AND CRETE IN THE LEAGUE AGAINST
PHILIP V. 200 B.C.
80. Obv. Head of Athena Parthenos r., wearing
triple-crested helmet, adorned with
Pegasus and foreparts of horses.
Rev. KNASIIAN Owl standing to front on
a prostrate amphora ; in the field, a
square labyrinth. The whole in olive-
wreath.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '48 grammes. Wroth,B. M. C. Crete, p. 23, No. 4 and p. xviii; Head, H. N. 1
, p. 390;
Svoronos, Num. de la Crete one., p. 88, No. 174, PI. viii. 1.
'34
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
This coin, in all respects except the reverse
inscription and the Cnossian symbol of the laby-
rinth, resembles the coinage of Athens at the end
of the third and the beginning of the second
century B.C. (cp. No. 84). Contemporary with
this Cnossian coin are others issued at the cities
of Cydonia, Gortyna, Hierapytna, Polyrhenium and
Priansus, which agree in copying the types of
Athens in the same way. If this series of coins
were large and seemed to extend over a long
period, we should infer that the imitation of the
Athenian currency was due to commercial reasons,
such as inspired the barbarous imitations of the
same coinage made by the Himyarites of Arabia.
But the coinage is so small that it does not seem
to have extended over more than a few years. Weare therefore justified in accepting the theory that
it commemorates a definite political connexion
between Crete and Athens, such as that which
was effected by the anti-Macedonian statesman
Cephisodorus in 201-200 B.C. Pausanias 1
says
that Cephisodorus brought about an alliance
between Athens on the one hand and Attalus I.
of Pergamum, Ptolemy v. of Egypt, the Aetolians,
the Ehodians and the Cretans on the other.
Eventually also (from Polybius we know that it
was in 198-197 B.C.2
)he headed an embassy from
Athens to Rome.1
i. 36. 5 f .
2 xviii. 10. Niese (ii. p. 590, note 1) assumes that Cephisodorus had
previously gone to Rome at the time of the formation of the league, when
(in 200) the Athenians sent an embassy saying that King Philip was
marching on Attica and threatening its independence (Liv., xxxi. 5).
135
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
The Cretan coins, then, which resemble the
Athenian, were doubtless issued by the Cretan
cities to pay the army which they raised on that
occasion. The Attic weight-standard, which had
but recently penetrated to Crete, was convenient
for troops which were to serve with the Athenian
army.
FLAMININUS IN GREECE
198-190 B.C.
81. Obv. Head of Flamininus r.
Rev. T. QVINCTI. Nike standing 1., holdingwreath and palm-branch.
Berlin Museum. Gold Stater, 8 '55 grammes. Friedlander Z. f. N.t
xii. (1885), p. 2 ; cp. E. Babelon, Monn. de la Rip. Rom., ii. p. 391.
At some time between the victory of Cynos-
cephalae (197) and the return of T. QuinctiusFlamininus from Greece in 194, or, less probably,
during his second sojourn in Greece (192-190), the
Roman general struck a small number of gold coins,
of which but three specimens have come down to
us. He issued them in virtue of his imperium, andfor military purposes. In weight, as was necessaryfor circulation in Greece, they conformed to the
gold standard which was so familiar to all Greeks,thanks to the staters of Philip and Alexander ;
and their reverse type recalls, though it does not
exactly reproduce, the gold staters of the latter
king. But otherwise (with the exception to be
noted below) it is a Roman coin, and the use of the
136
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Latin language is no '
significant compliment.'l
Fried!ander notes that in style it corresponds to
the Macedonian regal coins of the time, and was
therefore probably struck in Macedon, not farther
south. If it had been struck by Greeks in honour
of Flamininus, it would probably have borne a
complimentary inscription in the Greek language,rather than a Latin inscription of the form which is
found on most purely Roman coins.2
The head on this coin is the earliest contem-
porary portrait of a Roman. Macdonald has shown 8
that the exercise of the right of portraiture here,
as on earlier coins struck in Greece, is connected
with the deification of the person represented.Flamininus was actually deified by the Greeks, and
accepted the honour, apparently without demur.
EUMENES II. AND STRATONICEIA
circa 186 B.C.
82. Obv. Cista mystica, with half-open lid, serpent
issuing from it; the whole in ivy-wreath
with berries.
Rev. Bow-case, containing bow, between two
serpents ; above, thunderbolt ; on either
side a human head, male r., female 1. ;
within coils of serpent, BA EY; on
bottom of bow-case, A ;in field below,
1 Mommsen, Hist, of Rome, ii. p. 247, note (Eng. trans.).2Cp. F. Lenormant in Rev. Num., 1852, pp. 192 f.
3 Coin Types, pp. 153 f.
137
HISTOKICAL GREEK COINS
British Museum. Silver Cistophorus, 11 '86 grammes. Head, B. M. C.
Lydia, p. 284, No. 1, PI. xliii. 1.
83. Obv. Similar to No. 82.
Rev. Type similar to No. 82;in field 1. REPf
in monogram, r. torch.
British Museum. Silver Cistophorus, 12 "47 grammes. Wroth, B. M. C.
Myaia, p. 123, No. 90, PI. xxvi. 1.
The somewhat obscure city of Stratoniceia on
the Caicus was until late years much confused
with its better-known namesake in Caria. Fromits coins we learn that its people originally bore
the name of Indi . . . ('IvSi/co! ?) Pediatae. It
evidently obtained its name of Stratoniceia from
Eumenes n. in honour of his wife Stratonice,
daughter of Ariarathes. Eumenes received Stra-
tonice in marriage about 189-188 B.C., and the re-
naming of the city must have taken place verysoon afterwards. For, both on No. 82 and on
another cistophorus with the inscription BAcnXc'ojs
EY/xevov?, struck at the city of Apollonis (similarly
named after the mother of Eumenes n.), we find
the letter A. A third cistophorus of Eumenesstruck at Thyateira bears the letter B. These
letters almost certainly represent dates, so that
the two former cistophori were struck in the fourth,
and the last in the second, year of some era. The
dates cannot be the regnal years of Eumenes ; for
in his fourth year (194) he was not yet married to
Stratonice, and Stratoniceia had not yet received
its new name. The era is therefore probably that
of the extension of the Pergamene realm in 189
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
B.C., and 'the date of the coins of Apollonis andStratoniceia is 186 B.C.
1
The coin of Stratoniceia is not a very good
specimen of the cistophorus. The details of the
bow-case, with one end of the strung bow project-
ing from it, are better seen on other specimens,such as No. 83, which was struck at Pergamum.According to the most probable theory,
2 the cisto-
phoric coinage was initiated at Ephesus, before
that city came into the hands of the Pergamenekings, and was afterwards rapidly adopted as a
sort of common (not, properly speaking, federal) cur-
rency throughout the Pergamene dominions. 3 While
the weights of the cistophorus and its divisions4
correspond to no denomination in circulation at
Pergamum, Ephesus was issuing, during the period of
Ptolemaic rule from 258-202, coins which correspondin weight to the cistophoric didrachm and drachm.
The types of the cistophorus and of its divisions,
it will be observed, are partly Dionysiac. Thus
on the cistophoric tetradrachm we have within
an ivy-wreath the Dionysiac cista mystica (which
gives its name to the coin) with a serpent issuingfrom it. On the didrachm and drachm the re-
verse type is a bunch of grapes lying on a vine-
leaf. On the other hand, the lion's skin and club
on the obverse of the didrachm and drachm point
1 See Imhoof-Blumer, Die Munzen der Dyn. von Pergamon, pp. 30 f.
2 Imhoof-Blumer, op. cit., p. 33.3 From the beginning of the second century down to the early daya
of the Roman Empire the cistophorus was the most important silver
coin in Asia Minor.* The tetradrachm weighs 12 '73 grammes normal.
139
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
to Heracles. From this division of the typesbetween Dionysus and Heracles it seems to fol-
low that the bow-case and the two serpents on
the reverse of the tetradrachm must belong to
the latter god. The serpents probably have a
mystical significance, so that the types on both
sides seem to allude to the mystic worship in
which Heracles and Dionysus were associated.1
It may be that the types were suggested by some
great religious corporation or corporations, such
as the Aiowo-ictKol re^trat, who enjoyed a positionof considerable influence, political as well as re-
ligious, in Asia Minor under the Attalids.2
ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES AT ATHENS
175 B.C.
84. Obv. Head of Athena Parthenos r., in triple-
crested helmet adorned with Pegasusand fore-parts of horses.
Rev. AGE ANTIOXO I<APAIXO PPATOrEOwl standing on prostrate oil-amphora ;
in the field, an elephant ; on the
amphora I; below, A The whole
in olive-wreath.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16'17 grammes. Head,B. M. C. Attica, p. 36, No. 328, PL xi. 1.
Antiochus, the son of Antiochus in. and Laodice,
was sent to Rome as a hostage in 189, after the1 On the connexion of Heracles with the mystic worship of the
Eleusinian deities and of Dionysus, see Furtwangler in Reseller's
Lexikon, i. 2185 f.
a F. Lehormant in Daremberg-Saglio, Diet. s.v. Ciatophorus.
140
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
battle of Magnesia. On his return homewards in
or before '1 75l he spent some time at Athens.
Here he heard of the murder of his brother Seleu-
cus iv., which enabled him to succeed to the throne
as Antiochus iv. During his stay at Athens he
made munificent gifts to the temple of Zeus
Olympius surpassing, as Polybius says, all whohad reigned before him in his generosity ; and to
the theatre he gave a golden aegis bearing a gor-
goneion.2 From the coins on which his name
appears it seems that he held some constitutional
office. The Athenian tetradrachms of this periodbear three names, of which the third seems to
belong to the treasurer (ra/uas) of the prytany in
which the coin was issued. But no attempt to
decide what offices are represented by the first andsecond names has yet been found quite satisfactory
a curious illustration of the gaps in our know-
ledge of the Athenian constitution. It has been
noted that those 'magistrates' who can be identified
belong to the greatest Athenian families, and that
the first two names often belong to brothers or
cousins. These facts suggest that the offices repre-sented by the first two names may possibly have
been of the nature of Xetrov/aytcu.
It is hardly necessary to dwell on the significanceof the types of this coin. On the obverse we have
a head representing the Parthenos of Pheidias. Onthe reverse are the owl of the goddess, standing
upon an amphora of the kind in which was stored
1Sevan, House of Seleucus, ii. p. 124.
2Polyb., xxvi. 1. 10; Liv., xli. 20; Paus., v. 12. 4.
141
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the oil made from the olives grown under her pro-tection. The border of the coin, again, is an olive-
wreath. The elephant is evidently the symbol of
the future Syrian king. Although it does not
occur on his own coins struck during his reign, it
is one of the badges of the Syrian kings in general ;
l
and we can prove that it is associated with him in
this particular case. We assume that the symbolswhich occur in the field of the Athenian tetra-
drachms of this time are connected with one of the
three names of magistrates.2
It cannot be connected
with the third name, which may vary as often as a
dozen times in the year, while the symbol remains
the same. Now all the coins with the name of
Antiochus bear the elephant ; but on some of these
the second magistrate is NiKoy(o?s), on others
Ka/scuxos. From this it follows that the elephantmust be the symbol of Antiochus, unless (which is
highly improbable) it represents yet a fourth
person.The letter Z on the oil-amphora marks this coin as
having been issued in the sixth month of the year.The letters A below the amphora probably indicate
the particular officina of the mint in which the coin
was produced. No better illustration than this
coin could be found of the elaborate system of con-
trol over officials which prevailed under the Athenian
democracy of the second century. Any official fraud
or adulteration could, by means of the various names
1 See Babelon, Sois dt, Syrie, pp. xxvii f.
3 For an analysis of the evidence as to relation of the symbol to the
name, Bee my Handbook, pp. 122 f ., and Maudonald, Coin Types, pp. 54 f.
142
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
and letters on the coins, be traced to the culprit
with the minimum of difficulty.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES
175-164 B.C.
85. Obv. Veiled female head (Demeter ?) r.
Rev. ANTIOXEAN TAN PPO TAI lAPHIHorse trotting 1. ; countermark con-
taining uncertain object (quiver ?).
Fig. 7. British Museum. Bronze.
Wroth, Num. Ghr.t 1904, p. 305,
No. 27.
PIG. 7. No. 85.
History has left no written record of the exist-
ence of a city called Antiochia on the Sarus in
Cilicia. We know, however, from various sources
that the name Antiochia was given by Antiochus iv.
to more than one city in the Seleucid dominions,
only to fall out of use immediately or soon after the
end of his reign. Thus the people of Tarsus for afew years were called 'A.VTIOX& ot
TT/JOS r&5 KvSv<w,and struck bronze coins in this name. ' Antiochiaon the Sarus
'
is therefore to be looked for in Adana,the only city of importance on that river. Theidentification is rendered certain by the fact that
coins bearing types like those of No. 85 exist withthe inscription AAANEAN. Another coin with the
same inscription as No. 85 has for types a radiate
143
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
and diademed head of Antiochus iv., and Zeus
seated holding Nike.
In these apparently insignificant bronze coins wehave illustrations of the policy of Antiochus Epi-
phanes. We do not know how far he modified the
constitution of Adana, as he had modified that of
the great Syrian Antiochia, in accordance with the
Athenian model which he had learned to admire
before he became king.1 But these and similar
coins throw a little light on the way in which he set
about his task of unifying the Seleucid Empire.The king's head on coins of this time, struck at
many different cities, is radiate, as though to bringhis divinity into manifestation. The usual reverse
type is Zeus 2 the special object of the king's wor-
ship, possibly even identified with him. In the
cults of the king and of Zeus, whether separate or
combined, was the religious bond between the
various cities of the empire. Citizens who had
been known as 'ASams, Taverns, Mot/Karat, OividvSioi,
'ESecrcratot were now compelled to call themselves
ot77/309 TW Sct/aw, 'Ai/no^cis oi
TT/JOS ro>
XeuKts ot TT/JOS ro> HvpdfJLO), 'E7ri<cu>ets,
oi cTrl KaXXtpofl. All these names re-
called either Antiochus himself or the founder of
the dynasty.The veiled head on the obverse of No. 85 is pro-
bably a goddess. An identification with Antiochis,
1 See Bevan, House of Sdeucus, ii. p. 151 ; and for the significance of
the coins and their types, p. 156.2 Doubtless Antiochus was not always the first to introduce the Zeus
cult into all these cities ; but at least he seems to have endowed it with
special privileges.
144
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
the concubine to whom the king gave the revenues
of Tarsus and Mallus, suggests itself. But the same
head appears on many coins issued by Adana after
the death of Antiochus ; and the features of the
hateful woman against whom the Cilicians revolted
would certainly not have been retained on the coins
when once the control of Antiochus was removed.
It is most probably Demeter who is represented.The horse has apparently some local significance,
which escapes us.
In the British Museum is another bronze coinl
of Adana with the same veiled head and, on the
reverse, the figure of Zeus seated holding Nike.
Behind the head of ' Demeter '
is an eagle, and this
side of the coin is countermarked with a radiate
male head. If, as seems possible, this head repre-
sents Antiochus IV., then the coin must have
been issued before he gave the new name to the
city, for it is inscribed AAANEAN ; and it follows
that two of the types, which as we have seen
appear on coins with the new title, were alreadyin use at Adana a little earlier.
OROPHERNES AND PRIENE
159-156 B.C.
86. Obv. Head of Orophernes r. diademed.
Rev. BAIAEJ1 OPO4>EPNOY NIKH4>OPOY
Nike standing 1. holding palm in 1.,
1 B. M. C. Lycaonia, etc., p. 15, No. 1.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
with r. placing wreath on the king's
name; in field 1., owl on round basis,
and monogram.British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '39 grammes. Newtonand Clarke, Num. Chr., 1871, pp. 19 f. ; Head, C. A., PL 51, 23 ;
Wroth, B. M. C. Galatia, etc., p. 34, No. 1, PI. vi. 5.
The only coins by which Orophernes, the pre-
tender to the Cappadocian throne, is known to us
were accidentally found in 1870 in the basis of the
statue of Athena in her temple at Priene. Theywere a foundation-deposit, showing, in accordance
with a custom which has lasted from imme-
morial antiquity to the present time, that to
Orophernes the Prienians owed the cultus statue
which rested on the basis.1
Orophernes was an elder, supposititious brother
of Ariarathes v., the legitimate king of Cappa-docia and faithful ally of the Romans. Demetrius I.
of Syria failed to attach Ariarathes to his own side
in his quarrel with Rome, but he was more successful
with Orophernes. Supported by Demetrius, Oro-
phernes seized the throne. While he still held it,
he deposited with the Prienians a large sum of
money, four hundred talents, and this for security
was placed in the national bank, the treasury of
the temple. Ariarathes, when shortly afterwards
he succeeded in expelling his rival (156), demanded
the money from the Prienians, on the ground that
it was the property of the Cappadocian state, and
not of Orophernes. Rather than yield up the
1 On this statue, of which, unfortunately, only small fragments remain,
see Dressel, Silzungsber. d. kOn. preuss. Akad., 1905, No. xxiii.
146
PLATE XI.
Nos. 80^86.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
treasure to any but the depositor, the Prienians
suffered their city to be besieged by Ariarathes andhis ally, Attalus n. They succeeded in keepingtheir trust inviolate, and Orophernes eventuallyreceived his deposit back intact.
Orophernes in his youth had been sent to Ionia,
in order to get him out of the way, and secure the
succession for the legitimate son of Ariarathes iv.
and Antiochis. It was doubtless thus that his con-
nexion with Priene began. Later, when he felt
insecure on his usurped throne, he probably soughtto provide himself with support in Priene, and withthat view endowed the city in the way alreadymentioned. It has indeed been supposed that
Orophernes did not dedicate the statue of Athenauntil after the Prienians had shown their fidelity to
him in so remarkable a manner; that, in fact, the
presentation was an expression of his gratitude. Ex-
cept, however, for the four hundred talents about
100,000 which had been preserved for him, we
may doubt whether Orophernes, after his expulsionfrom Cappadocia, was in a position to spend much
money on the Prienians. On the other hand, while
still king, he distinguished himself by all kinds of
extortions, and by the plundering of the treasuryof Zeus. Probably, then, he thought well to invest
some of this ill-gotten gain in securing the fidelity
of a powerful Ionian city.
The coins, as is clear from their fabric, must have
been struck in some city on the western coast of
Asia Minor. A similar broad flan, with bevelled
edge, is found in the large tetradrachms of Smyrna,147
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Magnesia, Lebedus, and Myrina.1 Priene itself has
been suggested, the owl that appears in the field
of the coin being regarded as a mint-mark;for an
owl on an olive-branch is one of the types found on
Prienian bronze coins. It is true that the owl
after all, a natural type wherever there was a cult
of Athena occurs at other Ionian cities, such as
Lebedus and Heracleia ad Latmum. But, in view
of the history of Orophernes, Priene certainly seems
the most probable mint. We may note further
that the owl is standing on a round basis. It is
probably, therefore, the representation of a particu-lar figure of an owl, dedicated, we may suppose, in
some temple of Athena. It is difficult to abstain
from the conjecture that Orophernes dedicated a
figure of an owl in the temple to which he after-
wards gave its cultus-statue, and that when his coins
were struck for him at Priene that owl was used at
once as a mint-mark, and as an allusion to the
king's gift to the Prienian sanctuary.On the motif of the crowning of the king's name,
see above, No. 71.
THE REVOLT OF ANDBISCUS
150-149 B.c.
87. Obv. Bust of Artemis Tauropolos r., with bowand quiver at shoulder, in the centre of
a Macedonian shield.
Rev. LEG MAKEAONAN Club; in the field,
1 Head, C. A., PL 49. 15; 60. 18-20
148
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
above, hand holding olive-branch. Thewhole in oak-wreath.
Berlin Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '87 grammes. Berlin
Beschreibung, ii. p. 21. 2; Gaebler, Z.f, N,, xxiii. 149 c.
88. Obv. Similar to preceding.Rev. MAKEAONUN Club. The whole in oak-
wreath.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16'70 grammes. Head,C. A., PI. 54, 11.
89. Obv. Youthful male head 1. as Perseus, wearing
winged helmet decorated at top with
griffin's head; over shoulder, harpe.
The whole in centre of a Macedonian
shield.
Rev. BAIAEA 4>IAinnOY Club. The whole
in oak-wreath.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16'76 grammes.
The traditional classification of the three groupsof Macedonian tetradrachms corresponding to Nos.
87, 88, and 89 has recently been upset, and the
true arrangement conclusively established.1 After
the battle of Pydna, the Romans divided upMacedonia into four regions ;
but the right of
coinage was withheld for ten years, and then only
granted to the first and second regions as regards
silver, and to the fourth as regards bronze. Of the
third region no coins are known. The mints were
probably at the capitals of the respective regions,
Amphipolis, Thessalonica, and Pelagonia respec-
1 H. Gaebler, Zur Munzkunde Makedoniens, iii. in Z. f. N., xxii.
pp. 141 ff.
149
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
tively. The silver tetradrachms read MAKEAONANfl P.QTH or AEYTEPAS:, and have types repre-
senting Zeus, Artemis Tauropolos,1 and the club of
Heracles.
The praetor P. luventius Thalna, who appearedin Macedonia in 149 to oppose the pretenderAndriscus, issued for military purposes a number of
tetradrachms similar to No. 87. On these the
hand holding the 0aXX6s of olive is his canting
badge. The coins bear the letters LEG as havingbeen issued by Thalna's legatus pro quaestore. Themint which was at Amphipolis saved itself
trouble by using for the reverses of these coins old
dies of Philip v. slightly altered. Traces of the
original inscription BAIAEA 4>IAinnOY are
visible on the Berlin specimen.2
When Andriscus had made himself master of
Macedon, the mint which had formerly workedfor the Homans immediately began to producecoins similar to Nos. 88 and 89. Gaebler has
proved, by a minute examination of a number of
specimens, that here again the moneyers did not
make new reverse dies, but altered the old dies of
Thalna. The discovery of traces of the old type on
the dies has enabled him to reconstruct the whole
numismatic history of this period, and is a goodinstance of the way in which historical facts of
some interest can be ascertained by the diligent
examination of minutiae of technique.1 For her worship at Amphipolis, see Diod., xviii. 4, 5, and Livy,
xliv. 44.8 The line-drawing in Gaebler, p. 149 c, shows these traces, which are
not discernible in a process illustration .
150
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
The types of the coins concerned have alreadybeen in part explained. On the obverse of No. 89,it is evidently Andriscus himself who appears withthe attributes of the hero Perseus. On certain of
the tetradrachms of Philip v. we find a bearded headin similar head-dress
; it has been taken to represent
Philip v. himself, although it is in many respectsmore like his son Perseus. 1 Andriscus thus in his
coinage under the name of Philip vi. harks back to
the old fashion, representing himself with the attri-
butes of the hero whose cultus his'
grandfather'
had affected, and after whom his'
father' had been
named.
ANTIOCHUS VII. AND THE JEWS
139-134 B.C.
90. Obv. A chalice. Hebrew inscr. 'Shekel of
Israel'
and date '
year 4.'
Rev. Lily-stalk with three flowers. Hebrewinscr. 'Jerusalem the Holy.'
British Museum. Silver Shekel, 14-25 grammes. Head, C. A., PI.
52, 31. Cp. Th. Reinach, Jewish Coins, pp. 10 f.
Immediately after the murder, by Tryphon, of
the young king Antiochus vi., in 143-142 B.C., Simonthe Hasmonaean made overtures to the rival king,Demetrius Nicator.
2 The opportunity was favour-
able for improving the position of the Jewish1 See Num. Chr., 1896, pp. 34 f.
2 For the history of this period, see Niese, iii. pp. 283 f. ; Bevan,House ofSeleucus, ii. pp. 230 f.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
people. Simon was able to throw a considerable
force into the scale, in return for which he obtained
not only the remission of arrears of taxes, but also
exemption for the future from any sort of taxation
or tribute. He himself was granted the title of
High Priest. A partial exemption had been
obtained by Simon's brother Jonathan two yearsbefore. The almost complete removal of the Gentile
yoke was commemorated by the adoption of a new'
era of liberty'
: the year 143-142 B.C. is 'year one
of Simon, High Priest, General and Ruler of the
Jews.' In the next year Simon was able to occupythe citadel of Jerusalem, which had hitherto been
held by the Syrian garrison. In 139-138 B.C. he
once more profited by the accession of a new king.Demetrius fell into the hands of the Parthians, andhis brother Antiochus vn., anxious to retain the
support of the Jews, confirmed all the earlier
exemptions, pronounced Jerusalem and the HolyPlaces free, and granted to Simon the right Of
striking his own money for his land.
The question of the date of the silver shekels
(similar to No. 90) and half-shekels, which werestruck during a period of five years, is the crux of
Jewish numismatics. Reinach, who now assignsthem to the time of Simon Maccabaeus, was him-
self the first to support by detailed argument the
theory that they belonged to the revolt of 66-70
A.D. That late date has found many other sup-
porters.1 But the modified form in which Reinach
now maintains the attribution to the Hasmonaean1 See Kennedy, in Hastings, Diet, of the Bible, iii. p. 430.
152
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
period is easier to accept. It is true that little
stress must be laid on the supposed archaic appear-ance of the coins. Jews reviving their liberty in
66-70 A.D. would be sure to feel the attraction of
old traditions, and as likely to strike archaistic
coins then as two centuries earlier. In any case
the supposed archaism is more probably mere rude-
ness. Nor again can we safely argue that the
coins belong to a standard which was obsolete in
66-70 A.D., and therefore cannot have been issued
then. In the first place, the silver coinage of Tyre,
struck on the same standard, goes down as late as
57 A.D. In the next, even had the standard been
quite obsolete, what more likely than that the
revolted Jews should revert to the old standard of
the sacred shekel? On the other hand, the re-
semblance in fabric and module of these coins to
the pieces produced at Antioch in the time of Nero
and Vespasian is hardly, to my eye, so close as
Kennedy insists.
The fact is, that we must not attempt to date
these shekels by comparison with others. Theyare like nothing else in the world. They are as
different from any other coins as are the Persian
darics and sigli. And why, in a nation which
assimilated foreign customs with reluctance, should
this surprise us ? Presumably, for the purposes of
the Temple treasury, which would surely have been
profaned by the admission of pieces bearing the
graven images of strange gods or human beings,
the foreign money in which the Temple-tax was
paid was melted down. The officials of the treasury
153
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
would thus have experience of casting ;and when
it became necessary to strike silver money, we have
no reason to suppose that they would consciously
adopt the exact methods of the Gentiles. Rather
would they endeavour to impart to their coinage' a quite peculiar, a national character, as well in
its exterior aspect as in its types and legends.'*
This being so, the attribution of the pieces mustbe based on other grounds than comparison with
the coins of neighbouring peoples in respect of fabric
or weight. The only acceptable attribution is one
which gives them to a period of independence lastingfive years, but (in accordance with the rarity and
poor workmanship of the coins of the fifth year)
showing towards the end considerable stress of
circumstances. Such a period has been found byReinach. Those who formerly assigned the coins to
Simon Maccabaeus usually made the series begin with
the first year of Simon's high-priesthood (143-142
B.C.). Among other difficulties raised by this datingis the fact that it makes the coinage come to an
end just after Antiochus granted Simon the rightof coinage. Reinach has shown that the difficulties
disappear if we assume that the coins begin in the
year of the rescript of Antiochus granting the rightof coinage surely a natural era to adopt. Thenthe first year of the coins corresponds to April 139
-April 138 ;the fifth year to April 135-April 134.
Simon died in February 135, and was succeeded byJohn Hyrcanus. Antiochus had already quarrelledwith Simon and begun hostilities ; there is no
1Reinach, loc. cit.
'54
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
reason to suppose that he confirmed John in the
high-priesthood. Nevertheless John succeeded in
striking a few coins, which bear the date *
year 5,'
and are rare as well as poorly made in comparisonwith their predecessors. Then this curious coinagecomes to an end. Incidentally its cessation if we
accept this dating seems to prove that the warwas terminated by the fall of Jerusalem by April
134, and that the city did not hold out until 130-
129, as the texts of Josephus and Eusebius give us
to understand. Had the siege lasted four years,we should have heard more of it, and probably also
some numismatic record would have come downto us.
The types of the shekels and half-shekels used
to be described as Aaron's rod that budded and
a pot of manna. These identifications are now dis-
carded as fanciful. The '
pot'
is clearly a chalice
of some kind, and is usually represented with jewels
(pearls'?) round the rim. Why it, or the triple
flower, was placed on the coins we do not know.
The weights of these shekels and half-shekels are
normally 14*54 grammes and 7 '27 grammes respec-
tively. There can be little doubt that they repre-
sent the '
shekel of the sanctuary'
or'
sacred shekel'
and its half, which were merely the tetradrachm
and didrachm of the Phoenician standard in use at
Tyre and other Phoenician cities. The Temple-taxfor each person was a half-shekel. In the time of
Christ there were very few Phoenician didrachms ,
or half-shekels, in circulation ; and thus, as in the
case of the miracle of the stater or tetradrachm
155
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
taken out of the mouth of the fish, the tax mustoften have been paid by two persons in combination.
ALEXANDER ZABINAS
129/8-123/2 B.C.
91. Obv. Head of Alexander n. of Syria r. diademed ;
fillet-border.
Rev. BAIAE.Tl AAEZANAPOY 0EOY EHI-
<t>ANOY NIKH<t>OPOY Zeus, wearinghimation about lower limbs, seated 1.
on throne, holding in his r. Nike with
wreath, and resting with his 1. on
sceptre.
British Museum. Gold Stater, 8 '66 grammes. Babelon, Jiois de Syrie,
pp. cxlix f. ; Wroth, Num. Ohr., 1897, p. 115, PI. v. 8.
This unique gold coin probably belongs to the
close of the reign of Alexander Zabinas or Zebinas.
Deserted by the man who had set him up, PtolemyEuergetes n., and vigorously attacked by Antiochus
Grypus, the usurper was defeated and forced to fly
to Antioch (123-122). At a loss for money to payhis troops, he laid hands on the treasure of the
temple of Zeus. He seized, in particular, the solid
golden statue of Nike which belonged to the shrine,
indulging in the somewhat poor jest, Victoriam
commodatam sibi ab love esse.1 Of the gold coins
which were presumably made out of the metal
obtained by melting down this statue, but one, No.
91, has come down to us. The type of the enthroned
1Just., xxxix. (ii.) 5.
156
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Zeus holding the figure of Nike does not, it is true,
now appear for the first time on Seleucid coins, or
even on the coins of Alexander himself; for there
exist silver coins of his reign with this type issued
from 126-125 to 12 3-122 B.C. But there is an im-
pudent aptness in the use of the image of the god,
whose treasure Alexander had plundered, as the
type of the coins which he was thus able to strike.
There is little else in the types which calls for re-
mark. The portrait of Alexander shows a weak and
foolish type of face. The fillet-border which sur-
rounds it is first used by Antiochus in. (the Great).1
It undoubtedly had in the beginning a religious
significance, for it is simply one of the woollen fillets
which were tied to sacred or devoted objects, or
worn by priests ; and it is as expressive of the
divine character of the king as the title 0eo<? would
be. But it soon lost its special significance, and
was used as a purely ornamental border.
The title NIK^O/JOS borne by the king is generally
assumed to have a direct reference to the fact that
Zeus holds a figure of Nike. 2 That there is some
allusion of this kind it would be pedantic to deny ;
but the concrete sense thus given to the verbal
part of the compound is foreign to the usage of
good writers.
1 It occurs on coins which have been attributed to '
Antiochus, son of
Seleucus in.'
; but this prince is a myth, and the coins are probably later.
See Macdonald, J. H. S., xxiii. pp. Ill f.
2 See E. R. Sevan, /. H. S., xx. (1900), pp. 28 f.
157
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
PBOVINCIA MACEDONIA
93-88 B.C.
92. Obv. C/E PR MAKEAONAN Head of
Alexander the Great r. with horn of
Ammon and flowing hair.
Rev. AESILLAS Q Club downwards be-
tween money-chest (fiscus) on 1. andsella quaestoria on r. ; the whole in
laurel-wreath.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 15*49 grammes.
93. Obv. MAKEAONAN Head of Alexander r. as
on No. 92 ; behind 0, in front, traces
of 8 I
Rev. SVVRA LEG PRO Q Club, fiscusand sella, all in laurel-wreath as on
No. 93.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16 '07 grammes. Head,C. A., PL 65, 10. Cp. Gaebler, Z.f. N., xxiii. p. 171.
Sura is evidently the Q. Bruttius Sura who acted
as legate of the praetor C. Sentius Saturninus in
Macedonia. 1 To meet the demands on the militarychest at this period, the Roman governor issued
coins, which were signed by his leg(atus) pro
q(uaestore), Sura. One of Sura's coins is from the
same obverse die as one of a series signed by the
quaestor Aesillas. Now a certain number of the
coins issued by Aesillas bear the name of the
praetor Caesar (No. 92). This Caesar was L.
Borghesi, (Euvres, ii. pp. 236 f. ; Gaebler, loc. ctV.
158
PLATE XII.
Nos. 8793.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
lulius, who was consul in 90, and evidently
governed Macedonia as praetor immediately before
Saturninus.
For about half a century before the praetorshipof L. lulius Caesar there was no issue of coins in
Macedonia. The coins with his name are uncom-
mon. On the other hand coins with the name of
Aesillas alone are among the commonest that have
come down to us. Gaebler accordingly suggeststhat he must have continued in office for some time
under Saturninus, until he was relieved by Sura.
To this period would belong his coins without
Caesar's name. Some bear monograms or letters
showing that they were issued from the mints of
Thessalonica and Bottiaea (Pella), while others
without any mint-mark belong to Amphipolis.
Further, some of the latest of his coins, like that
of Sura No. 93, bear the letters S I, probably givingthe value of the tetradrachm in sesterces (si/ =16).The head of Alexander the Great with the horn
of Ammon is descended from the type of Lysim-achus (No. VI). Before this period it does not
appear on Macedonian coins, nor, indeed, does any
undisguised portrait of the hero-king. But from
this time forward the king's head is the commonestof Macedonian types. Under the empire the KowbvMa/ceSovajv was allowed to issue a large series of
bronze coins, of which the obverse type is the head
of Alexander, sometimes half-disguised, it is true,
as Heracles, but at others wearing merely a diadem
or a helmet.
The club on the reverse is the relic of the type
159
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
of the earlier tetradrachms (Nos. 87 f.) ; and the
quaestorial insignia explain themselves. The habit
of putting such symbols of office on coins is in keep-
ing with Roman custom ; and the combination of
the two kinds of type in one well expresses the wayin which the Greek element in civilisation was
embraced in and absorbed by the Roman.
The doubling of the vowel V to represent lengthis characteristic of Latin inscriptions from the time
of the Gracchi to about 75 B.C. It was introduced
by the poet Attius.1
ATHENS IN THE MITHRADATIC WAR
87-86 B.c.
94. Obv. Head of Mithradates the Great r. dia-
demed, with flowing hair.
Rev. BASIIAE.ru: MI0PAAATOY EYI~IATOPO
Stag feeding 1.;
in field 1., sun in
crescent ;r. A and monogram of
riEPf ; beneath, another monogram ;
the whole in ivy-wreath.
British Museum. Gold Stater, 8 '48 grammes. Wroth, B. M. C.
Biihynia, etc., p. 43, No. 1, PI. viii. 5.
95. Obv. Head of Athena Parthenos r. wearing
triple-crested helmet (as on No. 84.)
Rev. A9E BASIAE MiePAAATH APISTIANOwl standing to front on a prostrate
amphora (as on No. 84) ;in the field r.,
1 J. C. Egbert, Introd. to the Study of Latin Inscr., p. 30.
1 6O
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
sun between crescents. The whole in
wreath of olive.
British Museum. Gold Stater, 8 '23 grammes. Wroth, Num. Chr.,
1897, PI. iv. 9 ; Hill, Handbook, PI. ix. 7.
The Aristion,1 whose name is read on No. 95, is
the Athenian 'philosopher' and agent of Mithra-
dates. He had little difficulty in persuading the
Athenians of the probable success of the king; and,
backed by the presence of some two thousand mer-
cenaries, and by a share of the plunder of the trea-
sury of Delos, with which the general Archelaus sent
him to Athens in 88 B.C., he inaugurated a tyrannywhich lasted until March 86. The Athenian silver
coins of the year 88-87 bear the names of Aristion
and Philon. The types are those of No. 95 the
regular types of the Athenian coinage but in the
field is the symbol of Pegasus drinking. That
symbol is one of the chief types of the coinage of
Mithradates himself. In the next year (87-86) the
names are as on No. 95, the symbol being changedto a sun and crescents.
2 This symbol again is onlya modification of the sun in a crescent which occurs
constantly on the coins of Mithradates (No. 94).
Aristion further marked the breach with Rome by
issuing a coinage in gold. Mithradates caused goldcoins to be issued about the same time at Ephesus,
3
Smyrna,4 and possibly elsewhere, with local types ;
1 On the history of this period and its connexion with the coins, see
especially Weil in Athen. Mitth., vi. (1881), pp. 315-337.2 Note that the coin is further distinguished from the ordinary issues
of the Athenian mint by the absence of mint-letters.3 Head, Coinage of Ephesus, p. 69. 4
Head, H. N. 1, p. 509.
L
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
some of his own gold staters (as No. 94) were struck
at Pergamum, for they bear the letters PIEPF in
monogram. They are also marked with singlenumerals A, B, f or A, and not with the years of the
Bithynian era which he used on his other coins.
Probably the numerals represent the years of a newera beginning in 89-88 B.C., when the Romans were
expelled from Asia.1
The Athenian gold coinage thus falls into a
general scheme organised by the Pontic king for
subsidising his partisans against Rome. These are
the last gold coins struck by the Greeks, if we
except the series issued by the kings of the
Cimmerian Bosporus, to whom the Romans for
special reasons granted the privilege.2
The coins with the head of Mithradates are the
last fine works of art produced by the coin-engraverin Greece. They especially the silver tetra-
drachms, on which the work can be better ap-
preciated owing to their larger size indeed stand
almost alone in the first century. Nothing
approaching them had been produced since the
time of Philip v. But although the techniqueis good, the treatment is rather showy, so that
the eye, although at first attracted, soon tires
of the subject.8
The ivy-wreath on the reverse of the coins of
Mithradates 4 reminds us ofthe cistophori. Whether1 Th. Reinach, Trots Boyatimes, p. 195.
a For apparent exceptions, see Hill, Handbook, pp. 86 f.
8 See the excellent criticism in Ruskin's Aratra Pentelici, 120.
4 See Reinach, op. cit., p. 441, and Wroth, B. M. C. Bithynia, etc.,
p. xxv, on these types.
l62
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
it was adopted for commercial reasons we cannot
say ; but in any case it was appropriate to Mithra-
dates, who posed as Dionysus. The feeding or
drinking stag, it has been suggested, may, as the
symbol of Artemis Agrotera, refer to the king'slove of hunting ; the Pegasus, as the offspring of
the Gorgon Medusa, refers to Perseus, the legen-
dary ancestor of Mithradates.
THE END OF THE SELEUCID KINGDOM
83 B.C.
96. Obv. Bust of Tigranes r. ; wearing Armenian
tiara, decorated with sun between two
eagles. Fillet border.
Rev. BAIAE.TL TITPANOY The Tyche of
Antioch seated r. on rock, holding
palm-branch ; at her feet, half-figureof the river-god Orontes swimming r.
In the field, mint-letters. The whole
in a wreath.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16'45 grammes. Gardner,B. M. C. Seleucid Kings, p. 103, No. 2, PL xxvii. 6 ; cp. Macdonaldin Niim. Chr., 1902, pp. 193 f.
The slow decay of the Seleucid dynasty had,at the beginning of the first century B.C., broughtthe affairs of Syria to such a degree of disorder
that nothing less than the removal of the diseased
member could restore the state to health. The
remedy was close at hand, for under the great
Tigranes Armenia had risen to be a power. This
163
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
king carved large pieces out of the territories
which surrounded his own, chiefly at the expenseof Parthia and Cappadocia. In 83 B.C. he was
invited, or invited himself, into Syria, and the
ruling power collapsed, apparently at his mere
approach. Some places remained loyal to their
old masters, notably Seleucia. But from 83 B.C.
onwards Tigranes was regarded as king of Syria,
and he occupied the throne until in 69 he was
defeated by Lucullus. Then he retired to reign
once more in Armenia proper. He seems to have
issued the majority of his coins from Antioch on
the Orontes, as is clear from the type represented
on the reverse of No. 96. The figure of Tycheis copied
1 from the famous group of Tyche and
the Orontes made by Eutychides of Sicyon, an
artist of the Lysippean school. This work was
set up at Antioch soon after the foundation of the
city, and many copies, varying in details, have
been preserved. Of these the best known is the
graceful marble statuette in the Vatican. Tychewears a mural crown not clearly visible on this
specimen and is seated on Mount Silpius. The
river Orontes is represented at her feet in the
attitude of swimming.The choice of this type by Tigranes was obviously
dictated by a desire to publish the fact that he
was ruling in Antioch. The statuary group was
widely known, but, curiously enough, it had
occurred to none of the Seleucid dynasty to repre-
sent it on their coins. Possibly it would have
1 For the literature, see Wroth, B. M. C. Galatia, etc., p. Ixi.
164
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
savoured too much of civic independence. Tigraneswas therefore able to break effectively with the
tradition of the Seleucid coinage, and at the sametime to keep in touch with local feeling, at least
as regarded the most important city in his new
possessions.
The statue of Eutychides, or more probably the
representation of it on the coins of Tigranes and
on later coins of Antioch, was widely copied on
the coins of other places, where it represents the
local Tyche. Macdonald 1 has pointed out that
some of the coins of Tigranes himself with this
type were probably struck outside of Antioch,
perhaps at Damascus.
THE CONQUEST OF CRETE
69-63 B.C.
97. Obv. [P]nMA Head of Roma in wingedhelmet, adorned on one side with ele-
phant's head; in front, KA in mono-
gram.Rev. FOPTYN Cultus-figure of the Ephesian
Artemis; in the field, above, bee and
elephant's head ; on 1., monogram and
prow ;the whole in wreath.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 15 '09 grammes. Cp.
Friedlander, Z.f. N., x. (1883), p. 119.
Q. Caecilius Metellus, who by the subjection of
Crete earned the cognomen Creticus, was occupied1Op. cit., p. 200.
165
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
first with the conquest of the island, and then
for a number of years with its organisation as a
Roman province. The well-known quarrel with
Pompeius, whose command by the terms of the
Gabinian law included the sphere in which Metellus
was occupied, delayed the completion of the work.
It was not until 63 that Metellus appeared in
Borne to claim his triumph.The tetradrachm No. 97 must have been struck
in Gortyna after its occupation by Metellus, but
before the constitution of the province. For the
piece is evidently an autonomous one, and not
issued like the cistophorus Kpyrcuewv of somewhat
later date as a provincial coin. On the other
hand, the obverse type and legend indicate a close
relation to Rome. The connexion of the coin with
Metellus is definitely established by the elephant's
head which occurs on both sides of the coin. Onseveral Roman coins issued by members of the
Caecilia gens we find an elephant-car or an
elephant's head, in allusion to the victory won
by L. Caecilius Metellus over the Carthaginian
elephants at Panormus in 251 B.C.
It has been justifiably assumed that Gortyna
yielded of its own free will to the Roman general,
on the ground that this coin was issued in his
honour. There is no record of any struggle round
Gortyna, such as took place before Cydonia, Cnossus,
Lyttus, Lappa and Eleutherna fell into the hands
of the conqueror.If the meaning of the obverse type is clear, no
explanation has yet been found of the occurrence on
1 66
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
this coin- of the Artemis of Ephesus and her sacred
bee. It seems certain only that Gortyna must at
the time have been in alliance, complimentary or
effective, with Ephesus.
POMPEIUS ORGANISES SOUTHERN ASIA MINOR
66 B.C.
98. Obv. Head of Pompeius r., behind, uncertain
object ;in front, star and lituus ; fillet
border.
Rev. nONnmonOAITAN ETOYC iq Athena
standing 1., with Nike, spear and shield ;
in field, initials of magistrates.
British Museum. Bronze. Hill, B. M. C. Lycaonia, etc., p. 152,
No. 48, PI. xxvii. 2.
The city of Soli was probably depopulated by
Tigranes when, shortly after 83 B.C., he collected
the inhabitants of twelve Greek cities into his
new foundation, Tigranocerta. It lay waste until
Pompeius refounded it. That this was in 66 B.C.
is proved by the era according to which the coins
subsequently issued at the city are dated. The
new inhabitants at first called themselves Pompei-ani ; but very soon afterwards the city appears as
Pompeiopolis and the coins are inscribed
No. 98 is dated in the sixteenth year (erovs ts')
of the city, that is 51-50 B.C. It bears the head of
the founder. In front is the curved rod, the lituus,
167
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
quod clarissimum est insigne auguratus.1 The star
was used as a type by the Pompeiani on some of
the first coins issued at the newly-founded city.
Its especial significance here is obscure. On earlier
coins of Soli it also occurs as a symbol, seeminglywith reference to one of the cults of the city.
Athena was the chief local deity, and her head
appears on the coins from the latter part of the
fifth century onwards.
AMYNTAS, KING OF GALATIA
36-25 B.C.
99. Obv. Head of Athena r. in crested helmet.
Rev. KAEYX Nike advancing 1., carrying a
diadem. In the field, a slipped pome-
granate.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 15 '85 grammes. Hill,
B. M. C. Lycia, etc., p. 148, No. 39, PI. xxvii. 5.
100. Obv. Similar to No. 99.
Rev. BAIAE/1 AMYNTOY Nike advanc-
ing 1. carrying sceptre bound with
regal diadem.
British Museum. Silver Attic Tetradrachm, 16'05 grammes. Wroth,B. M. C. Qalatia, etc., p. 2, No. 5, PI. i. 3.
Amyntas, who first appears in history as a
secretary of king Deiotarus, adopted a consistent
policy of deserting the losing side during the civil
wars which followed the murder of Caesar. For
1Cicero, De Divinat., I. xvii. 30.
168
PLATE XIII.
9<5
x'' *>^
: /C'~i v
t /'Si'-.\
m*&M. i
5^
Nos. 94 100.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
abandoning Brutus and Cassius he was rewarded
by Marcus Antonius with the crown of Galatia,
including Pisidia and parts of Pamphylia and
Lycaonia ; and by deserting Antonius before
Actium he succeeded in retaining his realm until
his death in 25 B.C.
The chief city in his dominions was the port of
Side, and here he seems to have established a mint.
No. 99 is a tetradrachm of Side, struck just before
the city came into his hands. The attribution is
proved by the pomegranate (0-1877), which is the
canting badge of the city, and occurs either as typeor as symbol on all its coins down to this period.So well was the meaning of the pomegranate knownthat the Sidetans dispensed with the inscription of
their name on the coins long after such inscriptions
had become almost universal at other mints. Thetetradrachms of the class with which we are con-
cerned were first issued after the fall of Antiochus
the Great, when these 'spread' coins came into
fashion. That the coins signed by the magistrate
KAEYX (which represents some name like KXeo^osor KXeo^ap^s) are the latest of the class, is proved
by their style, by their comparatively low weight,1
and by the fact that they have been found with
tetradrachms of Amyntas in the same condition
and averaging practically the same weight.
Many of the coins issued by KXevx- differ from
their predecessors in that Nike on the latter carries
1 Out of a total of 54 tetradrachms in the British Museum and the
Hunterian Collection, the average weight of which is 16 '37 grammes,there are 12 of KXeux-, with an average of 15 '87 grammes.
169
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
not a taenia or diadem, but a wreath. The sig-
nificance of this variation is not clear. But
Amyntas, besides removing the mint-symbol, and
placing his own instead of the local magistrate's
name on the coins, made Nike carry his royal
sceptre with the diadem tied to it.
The silver coins of Amyntas furnish a curious
but by no means solitary illustration of the way in
which gaps in our numismatic knowledge maybecome filled. The Hunterian collection at Glas-
gow, formed chiefly between 1770 and 1783, con-
tains no silver coins of Amyntas, in spite of its
generally representative character. Indeed these
coins were quite unknown until the forties of
the next century. Now they are by no means
uncommon the British Museum, for instance,
possesses seven specimens.
170
INDEX
Under certain headings (which describe types or symbols) the names of
places or rulers will be found in italics, signifying that on the page indicated
such a type or symbol occurring on a coin of such a place or ruler is men-
tioned. The numbers refer to the pages of the text.
ACHAEAN colonies in S. Italy, 22.
league, 73 f ; interferes in
Crete, 134.
Acichorius, Gaulish leader, 116.
Acragas under Theron, 35 f.
Adana in Cilicia, 143 f.
Aegina, earliest coins of, 1 f., 3 f.
Aeginetic standard, 5 ; at Athens,13 f. ; in Sicily, 5, 36 ; relation to
Euboic-Attic there, 22.
Aegig worn by Alexander the Great,
106 ; by Ptolemy, 109.
Aegium in Achaea, 75.
Aesillas, 158 f.
Aetna-Catana, founded by Hieron i. ,
43 f.
Inessa, 44.
Aetolia seated, Aetolia, 115.
Aetolian League, 115 f. ; allied with
Athens, 135.
Africa, Agathocles in, 1 12 f.
Agathocles of Syracuse : coinage of,
110 f. ; types imitated by Seleucus,
120 f. ; relations with the East, 121.
Agrinium captured by Aetolians,
116.
Aleuas, head of, Larisa, 96.
Alexander the Great : coinage, 103 f. ;
his types copied, 107, 117, 119,
122, 123 .
head of,as Heracles,in lion's skin:
Alex. III., 103; Keleucus I.,
119.
in elephant's skin: Ptolemy I.,
106 f.
with horn of Ammon : Lysi-
machus, 121; Macedon, 158.
Alexander iv.,Ptolemy regentfor, 108.
i. of Epirus in Italy, 102.
ii. of Syria, Zabinas, 156 f.
'AXHs, Athena, 108.
Alliance coins : Sybaris and Posei-
donia, 51 ; Croton and Temesa,ibid. n.
Amaria, Athena, 75.
Amarios, Zeus, 75.
Amphictions of Delphi, coinage of,
89 f.
Amphictiony of Calauria, 7.
Amphipolis as mint under the
Romans, 149 f., 159.
Amyntas of Galatia, 168 f.
Anaxilas of Rhegium, 29 f. ; allied
with Terillus of Himera, 35.
Anchor, badge of Seleucus, 19.
Andriscus : revolt of, 148 f. ; repre-
sented as Perseus, Macedon, 149.
Androcleidas of Thebes, 71.
Anthela, Demeter of, 92.
Antigonus Gonatas : type of Athena,108 ; coinage, 129 f.
Doson, 129 f.
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Antioch (Syria) : under AutiochuB iv. ,
144 ; Alexander II. in, 156 ;under
Tigranes, 164 ; personified, ibid.
Antiochia eirl KaXXtpby, 144.- on the Cydnus, 143.- on the Sams, 143.
Antiochis, concubine of Antiochus iv. ,
144 f.
Antiochus iv. Epiphanes : at Athens,
140 f. ; his foundations, 143 f. ;
identified with Zeus, 144 ; repre-
sented radiate : Adana, 144.- vii. and the Jews, 151.- viii., Grypus defeats Alexander
Zabinas, 156.
Antoninus Pius, coin of Magnesia,47.
Apene, Messene and Rheyium, 29 f.,
32 f.
Aphlaston, Rhodes, 60, 63.
Aphrodite : connexion of tortoise
with, 6 ; head of, Cnidus, 63.
Apollo : Antigonus Gonatas dedicates
trireme to, 129 ; bull sacrificed to,
93 ; dolphin sacred to, 53 ; Philip v.
as, 133;wolf sacred to, 53.-
figure of : seated on omphalos,
Delphi, 89 ; on prow, Antigonus
Gonatas, 129 ; standing, Magnesia,45.- bust or head of: Agathocles,
110; lasos, 63; Olynthus, 66;
Philip II., 80, 82 ; Polyrhenium,132 ; Sicily, 86 ; Zacynthus, 84.
Apollonis, mother of Eumenes n., 138.
Apollonis in Lydia, 1 38.
Aratus interferes in Crete, 134.
Arcadians : league of, 72 f. ; seize
Olympia, 76 f.
Archaistic cultus-figures, 108.
Archelaus, general of Mithradates,
161.
Archer seated : Parthia, 131.
Archidamus HI. in Italy, 101 f.
Ares, head of: Philip II. (?), 82;
Mamertines, 82.
172
Arethusa, head of, Syracuse, 54 f., 97.
Argos : allied with the Eleans, 52 f. ;
Hera of, ibid.
Ariarathes v. and Orophernes, 146 f.
Aristion, agent of Mithradates, 161.
Aristodemus, lieutenant of Antigonus,115.
Aristotle on the early Athenian coin-
age, 13 f.
Armenia, Tigranes the Great of, 163 f.
Armour, prize : Syracuse, 54 f.
Arms of the State used as type, 6.
Arsaces of Parthia, 131.
Artemis : Agrotera, stag as symbolof, 163 ; Dictynna seated, Poly-
rhenium, 132 ; Ephesia, cultus-
figure of, Qortyna, 165 f. ; Tauro-
polos, bust of, Macedon, 148 f.
'
Asklepios'
of Melos, head of, 73.
Asopodorus, Boeotarch, 71.
Assinaria, festival of, 55.
Assinarus, disaster of the, 55.
Athena : of Priene, 146 ;Promachos
of Pheidias, 68.
figure of : Alkis, Philip F., 132 ;
Amaria, Achaean League, 75 ; arch-
aistic, Ptolemy /., 107 ; Promachos,Demetrius Poliorcetes, 118; winged,
Agathocles, 110; with spear and
shield standing (Promachos of
Pheidias), Citium, 67 ; with Nike,
spear and shield, Pompelopolis, 167;
seated, Lysimachus, 121 ; Perga-
mum, 124.
head of: Agathocles, 111 ; Alex-
ander the Oreat, 103; Amyntas,
168; Athens, 11 f., 140, 160;
Cnossus, 134 ; Leontini, 86 ; Side,
168; Sybaris, 49; Syracuse, 85;
Tarsus, 98 ; Thurii, 49.
Athens : earliest coinage, 11 f. ;
colonises Sybaris and Thurii, 50 ;
fails in Sicily, 54 f. ; restricts
coinage of allies, 60 ; interferes in
Cyprus, 68 f. ; in league with Crete
against Philip v., 134 f. ; her coin-
age imitated in Crete, 134 ; Antio-
INDEX
chus Epiphanes at, 140 ; monetarymagistrates at, 141 ; in the Mithra-
datic war, 160 f.
*A0\a, 54.
Attalus i. allied with Athens, 135.
Attic standard, 13 f. ; see also Euboic-
Attic.
BAALTAES seated, Tarsus, 97, 98.
Babylonian standard, 3, 18 f.
Badge of the State used as type, 6.
Barley : ear of (symbol), Tarsus, 97 ;
ears and torch, Sicily, 86 ; grain of
(symbol), Leontini, 86. See also
Corn.
BcunXefa. See King.Bee : Ephesus, 62 ; (symbol) Gortyna,
165, Philip ii., 80.
Beetle (symbol), Catana-Aetna, 43 f.
Biga. See Chariot.
Boeotarchs, 71.
Boeotia, coinage of, under Epami-nondas, 69 f.
Boeotian shield, 71.
Bomilcar. See Hanno.
Bottiaea under the Romans, 159.
Bow (symbol), Pergamum, 124, 126.
Bow-case between serpents : Strat-
oniceia, 137 ; Pergamum, 138.
Bowman. See Archer.
Boy : playing with snakes, Zacynthus,64 ; strangling snakes, see Heracles.
Brettians attack Tarentum, 101 f.
Britain, earliest coinage of, 83.
Bronze, large coins of, in Sicily, 88.
Bruttius (Q. ) Sura, 158.
Bull : Poaeidonia, 49 ; Sybaris, 49 ;
Thurii, 49 ; on dolphin, Byzantium,63 ;
lion slaying, Tarsus, 97 f. ;
foreparts of lion and, Lydia, 18 f.;
head of, Phocis, 89; human-headed,
Rhegium, 21, 26 ; horn of, on heads
of Diadochi, 119 f.
Bull-fights, Thessalian, 97 n.
Byzantium : in the anti-Spartan
league, 63 f. ; coins with types of
Lysimachus, 123.
CADMUS, son of Scythes of Zancle,31, 34.
Caecilius (L.) Metellus wins victoryof Panormus, 166.
(Q.) Metellus Creticus, 165 f.
Caesar, L. lulius, consul in 90 B.C.,
159.
Caesares, C. and L. , 123.
Calaurian Amphictiony, Orchomenusin the, 7.
Calf's head : Messene, 29 f. ; Rhegium,30 f. ; Samos, 32.
Camirus, 60.
Campanian standard, 22.
Canting types : 8, 36, 169.
Carthaginians defeated by Gelon at
Himera, 37 f .
Cassander and the Aetolians, 1 15.
Catana-Aetna. See Aetna.
Cecrops, Cyzicus, 58.
Centaur carrying woman, Uncertain
electrum, 9.
Centuripae issues large bronze coins,
88.
Cephisodorus, Athenian statesman,135.
Chabrias in Cyprus, 69.
Chair of quaestor, Macedon, 158.
Chalice, Judaea, 151.
Chariot : with four horses. See
quadriga ; with two horses, Aga-thodes, 110 ; Philip II., 80.
Charon of Thebes, 70.
XeXuWi of Aegina, 5.
Chromius governs Aetna, 43.
Cilicia : Aeginetic standard in, 5 ;
under Mazaeus, 97 f. See also
Pompeiopolis.
Cimon, die-engraver, 55 f.
Gista mystica : Stratoniceia, 137 ;
Pergamum, 138.
Cistophori, 126, 138 f.
Citium, Demonicus, king of, 67 f.
CLCses, 123.
Club: Macedon, 148 f., 158; with
lion's skin on cistophori, 139 ;
symbol, Tarsus, 98.
173
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Cnidus : battle of, 62 ; in the anti-
Spartan League, 63.
Cnossus : dominates part of Crete,
133 ;allied with Gortyna, 133 n. ;
in league with Athens against
Philip v., 134 f.
Cock, Himera, 35 f.
Conon : at Caunus, 59 ;victorious at
Cnidus, 63.
Corinthian : Pegasi, 86 ; standard in
S. Italy, 22.
Corn-grain ; Orchomenus, 7. See also
Barley.
Cornelius (P.) Lentulus Marcellinus,
coins with triskeles symbol, 111.
Cornucopiae (symbol), Lysimachus,
122.
Corupedium, battle of, 122, 125.
Cos, battle off Leucolla in, 129.
Crab, Acragas and Himera, 35 f.
Crenides, gold mines of, 78 f.
Crescent. See Sun.
Crete : Philip v. interferes in, 132 f. ;
in league with Athens against
Philip v., 134 f. ; conquered by
Metellus, 165 f.
Croesus, coinage attributed to, 1 f.,
18 f.
Croton : at enmity with Sybaris,
49 f. ;coins with Heracles and
serpents, 63 f.
Cruciform standard carried by Nike,
105.
Cydonia imitates Athenian types, 135.
Cyprus : Aeginetic standard in, 5 ;
Athenian influence in, 68 f. ; under
the Ptolemies, 109.
Cyzicus : Phocaic standard at, 8 ;
Pharnabazus at, 57 f. ; early por-
trait (?) and Atticising types, 58 ;
coin with Heracles and serpents,
64 f.
DAMARETE, queen of Gelon, 35, 37 f.
Damascus, coins struck by Tigranes
at, 165.
Damocleidas of Thebes, 70 f.
174
26 f.
Dareius i., coinage of, 26 f .
Daric, 26 f., 81.
Baton, 79 n.
Deification : 120, 125, 137.
Deinocrates defeated by Agathocles,
112.
Deinomenes, son of Hieron I., 43.
Delphi : Syracusan tripods dedicated
at, 38 ; coinage of, 89 f .;mina of,
14 n.
Demeter, head of : Adana, 143 ;
Delphi, 89 ; Tarentum, 101.
Demetrius i. of Syria supports
Orophernes, 146.
n. (Nicator) and the Jews, 151 f.
Poliorcetes defeats Ptolemy,117.
Demonicus, son of Hipponicus, kingof Citium, 67 f.
Demosthenes on Simus and Eudicus,94.
Didrachm, Solonian, 16.
Dies : connected in striking, 10 f. ;
number used for the Damareteion,40 ; alteration of, 150.
Diodorus on the Damareteia, 37.
i Diogiton, Boeotarch, 71.
Dion of Syracuse, 84 f.
Dione, Pyrrhus, 127.
Dionysiac types of Cistophori, 139.
Dionysus : head of, Thebes, 72 ; as
bull, 120 ; Mithradates as, 163.
Dioscurides Gratus of Magnesia, 47.
Dolphin: Zande, 21 f., 32 . ;
(symbol) Tarentum, 101 ; dolphins,
two, Argon, 52 ; four surrounding
head, Syracuse, 37, 42, 54.
Ducetius captures Aetna -Catana,
44.
EAGLE : Acragas, 35 f. ;on pine-tree,
Catana-Aetna, 43 f. ; on thunder-
bolt, Ptolemy I., 107; (symbol)
Ptolemy I., 107.
Ebernahara, 97 f.
Edessa, 144.
INDEX
Egypt, no early coinage in, 15 ; see
also Ptolemy.Eleans : allied with Argos, 52 f. ; at
war with Pisatans, 76 f.
Electrum : early coinage of, 1 ;
Phocaic, 9 ; attributed to Athens,
11, 17; Theban, 65.
Elephant: Seleucus /., 119; badgeof the Seleucidae, 142, symbol,
j
Athens, 140 ; head of, symbol, j
Oortyna, 165 f. ; head-dress of :
skin of, 107, 110.
Epaminondas, 69 f. ; establishes Ar-
cadian league, 72 f. ; subdues
Achaea, 74.
Ephesian Artemis on coin of Gortyna,167.
Ephesus : in the anti-Spartan league,j
62 f. ; cistophori introduced at,
139 ; gold coinage under Mithra-
dates, 161.
Ephorus on Pheidon, 4 f.
Epiphaneia in Cilicia, 144.
Era: of Mithradates, 162; Perga-
mene, 138.
Erichthonius, invention of coinageattributed to, 13.
Euaenetus, die-engraver, 56.
Euares of Thebes, 71.
Euboic-Attic standard, its relations
with Aeginetic in Sicily, 22.
Eudicus, Thessjilian, 94 f.
Eumenes II. of Pergamum, 137 f.
Eutychides of Sicyon, sculptor, 164.
FABRIC, peculiarities of, 22, 106,
147.
Facing heads, 61, 96 f.
Fillet-border, 157.
Fiscus, Macedon, 158.
Flamininus in Greece, 136.
Fox (?) on Uncertain electrum, 1.
GAIA and Erichthonius, Cyzicus, 58.
Galatia, Amyntas king of, 169.
Galley, prow of : Samians, 29 f. ;
Cyzicus, 57 f. See also Ship.
Gates between Syria and Cilicia,
99 f.
Gaul, early coinage of, 83.
Gelon of Syracuse : allied with
Theron, 35 ; defeats Carthaginiansat Himera, 37 f.
TXawcey, Athenian, 12.
Gold : first coins of, 1 ; of Croesus,18 f. ; of Persia, 29; of Philip n.,
78 f., 80 f. ; of Alexander, 103 f.,
of Flamininus, 136; of Mithradates,161 ; coinage of necessity, 77 n. ;
relation to silver, 19, 114 ; standard
of the gold-shekel, 18 f. ; types of
gold and silver usually different,
122?i.
Gortyna: and Cnossus c. 220 B.C.,
133; imitates Athenian types,135 ; under Metellus, 166.
Grapes : on vine-leaf, type of cisto-
phori, 139; with thunderbolt,
Sicily, 87 ; symbol, Tarsus, 97.
HALAESA, coinage of, 87.
Hanno and Bomilcar defeated byAgathocles, 112.
Hare : Messene, 29 f., 32 f.; Shegium,30f.,32f.
Harmodiusand Aristogeiton: Cyzicus,58.
Harpocration : on the word daric,
27 ; on Simus and Eudicus, 94.
Hasmonaean dynasty, 151 f.
Hawk of Apollo, 46.
Head, female : Achaean League, 73 ;
symbol, Stratoniceia, 137.
male : symbol, Stratoniceia,
137 ; in elephant's skin : Agath-ocles, 110; see also Alexander the
Great, Apollo, etc.
Healing-god of Himera, 36.
Helios, head of : Rhodes, 60.
Helmet (symbol) : Achaean League,74 ; Philippi, 78.
Hera : of Polycleitus, 53 f. ; head of,
Argos and the Eleans, 52 f.
Heracles : fighting with bow and
175
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
club, Citium, 67 ; strangling snakes,
type of the anti-Spartan league,63 f. ; also at Croton, Cyzicus,
Lampsacus, Thebes, 63 f. ; head of,
Aetolia, 115; Alexander the Great,
103 ; Lysimacheia, 123 /;. ; Odessus,
104 ; Philippi, 78 ;Thasians of the
Mainland, 78 ; types of the cisto-
phori connected with him, 140.
Herodotus : on the invention of coin-
age, 1, 19 f. ;on Pheidon, 4 ; on
coinage of Dareius i., 27 ; on his-
tory of Zancle, 31.
HesychiuB on the Damareteia, 38.
Hierapytna imitates Athenian types,
135.
Hieron I. founds Aetna, 43 f.
Himera : under Theron, 35 f . ; battle
of, 39.
lfj.tpa.=
r)fj.tpa, 37.
Hippocrates of Gela betrays the
Zancleans, 30.
Horn of bull, sign of power, 119 f.
Horse: Adana, 143; Larisa, 93;
Sicily, 87 ; of Thessalian matador,
97 ; head of, Seleucus I., 119.
Horseman : Philip II., 80.
Hyrcanus, John, 154.
IALTSCS, 60.
lasos in the anti-Spartan league,
63.
Imitation of types: 7, 105, 123, 135.
See. also Alexander the Great and
Philip II.
Incuse : fabric of S. Italy, 21 f. ; im-
pressions, 1 f., 3, 8, 10 f., 18, 26.
luessa-Aetna : see Aetna.
Ismenias of Thebes, 71 f.
Issus, coins of, 99.
lulius (L.) Caesar, consul 90 B.C., 159.
luventius (P.) Thalna in Macedonia,150.
Ivy-leaf (symbol) : Pergamum, 124,
126 ; Tarsus, 98.
Ivy-wreath : Mithradates, 160 ;
Stratoniceia, 137 ; Pergamum, 138.
JERUSALEM under the Hasmonaeans,152; fall of, 155.
Judas Pennies, 62.
, 87.
Kdvdapoi of Athens, 45.
King, title of, assumed by Alex-
ander's generals, 110, 112, 117,
119, 122.
Koivov TAcLKeSbvuv, 159.
Kora : see Persephone.
Kfyas, 110.
Krater : Boeotia, 69.
(7raT?7pej, 2, 18 f.
LABYRINTH (symbol), Cnossus, 134.
Lampsacus, coins with Heracles and
serpents, 64 f.
Larisa, coinage of, 93.- nymph, head of, 93.
Laurel-branch (symbol), Thaxians oj
the Mainland, 78 ; Philippi, 78.
Laurel-wreath : Macedon, 158.
Lebedus, fabric of tetradrachms, 148.
Leontini : coinage of Dion at, 86 f . ;
lion-symbol at, 42.
Leucolla, battle of, 129 f.
Lily-stalk, flowering : Judaea, 151.
Lindus, 60.
Lion : (symbol), Syracuse, 37, 42 ;
slaying bull, Tarsus, 97 f. ;fore-
parts of bull and, Lydia, 18 f. ;
head of, Messene, 29 f. ; Rhegium,30 f. ; scalp of, Samos, 29, 32, 62 ;
skin of, with club, on cistophori,
139.
Litrae, Sicilian bronze, 88.
Lituus (symbol), Pompeiopolis, 167 f.
Locri (in S. Italy) and Rome, 126 f.
Locrians dedicate hydria at Delphi,90 f.
Loyalty crowning Roma, Locri, 127.
Lucanians attack Tarentum, 101 f.
Lucullus defeats Tigranes the Great,
164.
Lyciscus defeated by the Aetolians,
115 f.
INDEX
Lycus, invention of coinage attributed
to, 13.
Lydian coinage, 1 f., 3, 19 f.
Lyre : Olynthus, 66 ; (symbol),
Lysimachus, 122.
Lysimacheia, types of, 122 n.
Lysimachus, king of Thrace, coinage
of, 121 f.
Lyttus destroyed by Cnossus, 133.
MACCABAEUS, SIMON, 152 f.
Macedonia : under the Romans,148 f. ; revolt of Andriscus, 149 f .
;
Provincia, 158 f.
Magna Graecia : early coinage of,
21 f.
Magnesia in Ionia : Themistocles at,
45 ; fabric of large tetradrachms,148.
Mallus, 99.
Mandonium or Manduria, battle of,
102.
Marcellinus, coins with triskeles
symbol, 111.
Mazaeus, 97 f.
'
Medallions,' Syracusan, 37 f . ,
54 f.
Megalopolis, coins of, 72 f.
Melekiathon, king of Citium, 69.
Melitaea, mint of Philip at, 83.
Messana under Anaxilas, 29 f. See
also Zancle.
Messapians attack Tarentum, 101 f.
Messene. See Messana.
Messina hoard, 25.
Metellus. See Caecilius.
Miletus, earliest coinage of, 2.
Military issues, 60.
Mithradates the Great, 160 f.
Money-chest, Macedon, 158.
Mopsus in Cilicia, 144.
Mule-car: Messene, 29 f., 32 f. ; Rhe-
gium, 30 f . , 32 f .
Myrina in Aeolis, fabric of large
tetradrachms, 148.
Mytilene, coin of Lysimachus attri-
buted to, 123.
M
NAXOS in Sicily, coins in the Messina
hoard, 25.
Nike : blowing trumpet, Demetrius
Poliorcetes, 117; carrying diadem,
Side, 168 ; carrying sceptre, Amyn-tas, 168; carrying wreath, Side,
170; carrying wreath and palm,Flamininus, 136 ; carrying wreathand standard, Alexander the Oreat,103 ; crowning charioteer, Syracuse,54 f. ; crowning horses, Syracuse,37 ; crowning mules, Messana, 30 ;
crowning name of king, Lysi-
machus, 123, Graphemes, 145 ;
erecting trophy, Agathocles, 110,
Seleucus /., 119 ; standing on prow,Demetrius Poliorcetes, 117 ; head of,
surrounded by dolphins, Syracuse,
37, 42; golden statue of, at An-
tioch, 156.
, title, 157.
OAK-WKEATH, Macedon, 149.
Odessus, coin of, with Alexandrine
types, 106.
Oeniandus in Cilicia, 144.
Olive - branch or spray (symbol) :
Athens, 11 ; Macedon, 149.
Olive - wreath : Athens, 140, 160;
Cnossus, 134 ; Eleans, 52.
Olympia : coinage of Eleans at, 53 f. ;
Hera at, 54 ; seized by Arcadians,
76 f.
Olympia (nymph), head of : Eleans, 76.
Olynthian league, 66.
Omphalos, Arsaces seated on, 132.
Onymarchus, Phocian general, 89 f.
Orchomenus (Boeotia) : Aeginetic in-
cuse at, 6 f. ; connexion with
Calaurian Amphictiony, 7 ; coinage
of fourth century, 70.
Orontes, R., personified, Antioch,
163 f.
Orophernes and Priene, 145 f.
Owl: Athens, 11 f. ; on amphora,
Athens, 140, 160, Cnossus, 134;
on pedestal, Orophernes, 148.
177
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
PAN: Arcadia, 72; caressing hare,
Messene, 32.
Panathenaic vases with Nike or
Athena holding standard, 105 n.
Pangaeus, Mt., 78 f.
Parthian Empire, foundation of,
131.
Patrae, coin with Athena, 75.
Pausanias on history of Zancle,
31.
Pegasus : Leontini, 86, Syracuse, 85 ;
drinking, badge of Mithradates,
161, 163.
Pegasus (coin) : of Agathocles, 1 14 ;
of Dion and Timoleon, 85 f.
Peisistratus and the Attic coinage,
17.
Pelagonia as mint under the Romans,149 f.
Pella: mint of Philip n. at, 83;Athena of, 108 ; under the Romans,159.
Pelopidas, Boeotarch, 71.
Pergamum : early coinage of kings of,
124 f. ; Athena crowning king'sname on coins of, 123 ; gold coinageunder Mithradates, 162. See also
Attalus, Eumenes.
Pericles colonises Sybaris and Thurii,
50.
Persephone, head of : Agathocles, 110 ;
on Syracusan'
medallions,' 56.
Perseus, the hero : legendary ancestor
of Mithradates, 163; Perseus of
Macedon and Andriscus in his
guise, 149 f.
Perseus, king of Macedon : his head
as the hero Perseus on coins of
Philip v., 151.
Persian : coinage, 26 f. ; king as
archer, 26 f. ; weight-standard, 3.
=</>, 9.
Phalaecus, Phocian general, 89 f.
Pharnabazus at Cyzicus, 57 f.
Phaselis, coin inscribed =<f>,
9.
Pheidias : his Athena Promachos, 68 ;
his Partbenos, 141.
,78
Pheidon, king of Argos, 4 ; standardnamed after him, 13 f.
Pheneiis, 74.
Philetaerus of Pergamum, 124 f.
Philip n. : founds Philippi, 78 f. ;
his coinage, 78 f., 80 f. ; dealingswith Thessalian tyrants, 93 f.
; his
types imitated by Agathocles, 112.
in., coins with name of, 107.
v. : type of Athena, 108 ;
head of, 132 ; interferes in Crete,
132 f.; as Apollo, 133; opposed
by Athens and Cretans, 134 f. ; his
dies used by Thalna, 150.
Philippe! nummi, 80 f.
Philippi, 78 f.
Philomelus, Phocian general, 90 f.
Phocaea, earliest coinage of, 8 f,
Phocaic standard, 8.
Phocians, coinage of, in Sacred War,89 f.
Phoenicia, no early coinage in, 16.
Phoenician standard, 19, 109, 155.
Pisa, its coinage at Olympia, 76 f.
Pistis, see Loyalty.Plated coins, 48.
Pollux : on invention of coinage, 1 ;
on the Damareteia, 38 ; on typesof Rhegium, 32.
Polyrhenium : relations with Philip
v., 132 f. ; allied with Athens, 135.
Pomegranate of Side, 169.
Pompeiopolis in Cilicia, 167 f.
Pompeius Magnus: organises Southern
Asia Minor, 167 f. ; his portrait,
167.
Portraiture : on early coins, 57 f.;
earliest Roman, 137.
Poseidon : Demetrius Poliorcetes, 117 ;
Poseidonia, 21 f. ; Poseidonia and
Sybaris, 49 ; Zancle, 32 n. ; with
infant Taras, Tarentum, 101 ; head
of, Antigonus, 129.
Poseidonia : early coinage of, 21 f .;
allied with Sybaris, 51.
Priansus imitates Athenian types,
135.
INDEX
Priene and Orpphernes, 145 f.
Private coinage, supposed, 2, 10 f.
Prizes in Assinarian games, 55.
Prow of war-galley : Oyzicus, 57 f. ;
Samians, 29 f. ; symbol, Alexanderthe Great, 103 ; Apollo seated on,
Antigonus, 129 ; Nike on, Deme-trius Poliorcetes, 117.
Ptolemy i. : coinage of, 106 f. ; de-
feated by Demetrius, 117; relations
with Agathocles, 113.
v. allied with Athens, 135.
Punning types, 8, 36, 169.
Pyrrhus and Locri, 127 f.
Pythagorean brotherhood in S. Italy,
23 f.
QUADRIGA, Syracuse, 37, 54 f.
Quaestor's chair, Macedon, 158.
Quinctius (T. ), Flamininus, 136.
RAVEN, Magnesia, 45.
Rhegium : relations with Zancle at
end of sixth century, 21 f.;under
Anaxilas, 29 f.
Rhodes : foundation of, 60 ; standard
of, 61, 63 f., 109; in the anti-
Spartan league, 63 ;allied with
Cnossus, 134 ; allied with Athens,135.
River-Gods, representations of, 26,
120, 164.
Roma : crowned by Pistis, Locri, 126 ;
head of, Gortyna, 165.
Pc6/ias, 165.
Rome and Locri, 126 f.
Rose, Rhodes, 60.
Rosette, Boeotia, 69.
SACRED WAR, 89 f.
Sacrifice, scenes of, 47 f.
Salamis (Cyprus), battle of, 306 B.C.,
117.
Samians in Sicily, 30 f.
Samos : types of, 32 ; in the anti-
Spartan league, 63.
Samothrace, Nike of, 118.
Sanctuary, shekel of the, 155.
Saturninus, C. Seutius, 158 f.
Scythes of Zancle, 30 f.
Seal, Phocaea, 8 f.
Seilenus, head of, Catana-Aetna, 43 f.
Seleucia on the Pyramus, 144.
Seleucid kingdom : foundation of,
118f. ; end of, 163 f.
Seleucus i., 118 f. ; head of 118, 124.
Selinus : coins of, imitated by Solus,
7 ; coin with Selinos sacrificing,
48 n.
Sella quaestoria, Macedon, 158.
Sentius (C.), Saturninus, 158 f.
Shekel, 28 ; Jewish, 152 f.
Shield : Boeotian, Boeotia, 69 ; bust
of Artemis on, Macedon, 148 ; head
of Perseus on, Macedon, 149 ; ini-
tials or monogram on, 116; lion's
scalp on, Samians in Sicily, 29.
Ship, see Galley.
Sicily personified, 87.
Sickle-shaped object, Zancle, 21 f.
Side under Amyntas, 169.
2iy\os, 28.
Signatures : of monetary officials, 2 f. ;
of engravers, 54 f .
Sikelia, head of, Sicily, 87.
Silver, first coins of, 1 f., 3.
Simon the Hasmonaean, 151.
Simonides' epigram on the Delphic
tripods, 38.
Simus of Larisa, 93 f.
Smyrna : fabric of large tetradrachms,
147 ; gold coinage under Mithra-
dates, 161.
Snakes, boy playing with : Zacynthus,
64 f. See also Heracles.
Soli (Cilicia), 99; refounded by
Pompeius, 167.
Solon and the early Attic coinage,
11 f.
Solus imitates coins of Selinus, 7.
Sparta, league against (394 B.C.), 62 f.
Stag, Mithradates, 160.
Standard, naval, held by Nike, 105,
118.
179
HISTORICAL GREEK COINS
Standards of weight, see Attic,
Babylonian, Phoenician, etc.
Star (symbol) : Pompeiopolis, 167 ;
Tarentum, 101. See also Sun.
Stratonice, wife of Eumenes n., 138.
Stratoniceia in Caria, 138.
on the Cai'cus, 138.
Striated surface, I .
Stymphalus, coins of, 74 f.
Sun (symbol) : in crescent, Mithra-
dates, 160;between two crescents,
Athens, 161.
Sura, Q. Bruttius, 158.
Sybaris and Thurii, 49 f.
Symbols, exergual, significance of,
42.
j'> 86.
), 62 f.
Syracuse : defeats Athenians, 54 f. ;
coinage of Dion and Timoleon at,
85 f.; under Agathocles, 110 f.
Syria : See Alexander, Antiochus,Demetrius i., Mazaeus, Seleucus,
Tigranes.
Syro-Cilician Gates, 99.
TARAS supplicating Poseidon, Taren-
tum, 101.
Tarentum : standard of, 22 ; in
fourth century B.C., 101 f.
Tarsus under Mazaeus, 98 f.; under
Antiochus Epiphanes, 143.
TavpoKaddif/La, Thessalian, 97 n.
Tauromenium, coinage of, 87.
Temple-tax, 155.
Thalna, P. luventius, 150.
Thasians of the Mainland, 78 f.
Thebes : coins with Heracles and
serpents, 63 f . ; in time of Epamin-ondas, 69 f.
Themistocles in Magnesia, 45 f.
Theopompus of Thebes, 71 f.
Theoxena, daughter of Ptolemy, 113.
Thermae Himerenses, 36.
Thermopylae, Amphictionic Council
at, 92.
Theron of Acragas, 35 f.
I 80
Theseus, invention of coinage attri-
buted to, 11.
Thessalonica as mint under the
Romans, 149, 159.
Thessaly under Philip n., 93 f.
Thrasybulus at Byzantium, 65.
Thrasydaeus, son of Theron, 35 f.
the Thessalian, 95.
Thunderbolt :
as type : Agathocles, 111; Catana-
Aetna, 43 f.; Eleans, 52; with
grapes, Sicily, 87.
as symbol : Alexander the Oreat,
103 ; Philip II., 80 ; Philip V.,
132 ; Stratoniceia, 137.
wielded by Athena, 108, 132.
three half-thunderbolts, Pisa,
76.
Thurii and Sybaris, 49 f.
Thyateira under Eumenes n., 138.
Tigranes the Great, 163 f.;founds
Tigranocerta, 167.
Timoleon, coinage in Sicily, 86 f .
Timon, Boeotarch, 71.
Timotheus, son of Conon, supposed
portrait of, 58.
Tiridates I. of Parthia, 131.
Torch : with two ears of barley :
Sicily, 86 ; as symbol, Pergamun,138.
Torgium, battle of, 112.
Tortoise : Aegina, 3, 5 .
Triangle in incuse square, 11.
Tripod : Thasians of the Mainland,
78; Philippi, 78; Zacynthius, 84;as symbol, Delphi, 89.
Triskeles (symbol), Agathocles, 110.
Tryphon murders Antiochus VI.,
151.
Tunny, Cyzicus, 57 f.
Tyche of Antioch, 163 f.
VELIA, standard of, 22.
VV= long, 160.
WALLS of city, Tarsus, 97 f .
Wo\i,Argos, 52.
INDEX
Wreath: Antioch,163 ; Gortyna, 165 ;
Phocis, 89; see also Ivy, Laurel,
Oak, Olive.
ZACYXTHUS : coins with infant-god
playing with snakes, 64 ; Dion at,
84 f.
Zd.yK\ov, 25.
Zancle at the end of the sixth cent.,
21 f.; under Anaxilas, 29 f. ; be-
comes Messene-Messana, 31 f.; old
name revived, 32 n., 34. See
Messana.
Zeus : AirvaTos, 43 f. ; Amarios, 75 ;
Eleutherios, 87; Hellanios, 82;
worshipped at Acragas, 36 ; wor-
shipped by Antiochus IV.,144 ;
his thunderbolt, 53.
figure of, seated: Achaean league,
73; Adana, 144; Alexander the
Great, 103 ; Alexander Zabinas,
156; Gatana-Aetna, 43 f. ; Odes-
sws, 104 ; Ptolemy I., 106.
head of : Aetna, 87 ; Agyrium, 87 ;
Arcadia, 72 ; Eleans, 76 ; Hal-
aesa, 87 ; Locri, 126 ; Philip II.,
80 ; Pisa, 76 ; Pyrrhus, 127 ;
Seleucus I., 119; Syracuse, 82,
87.
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
CJ339H5M1906C.IROBA